I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 249 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that persons having seriously 

delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2013 

Mr. CHAFFETZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the 

Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide that persons having seriously delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employee Tax 

5 Accountability Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INELIGIBILITY OF PERSONS HAVING SERIOUSLY 

2 DELINQUENT TAX DEBTS FOR FEDERAL EM3 PLOYMENT. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 73 of title 5, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—INELIGIBILITY OF PER8 SONS HAVING SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT 

9 TAX DEBTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT 

10 ‘‘§ 7381. Definitions 

11 ‘‘For purposes of this subchapter— 

12 ‘‘(1) the term ‘seriously delinquent tax debt’ 

13 means an outstanding debt under the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986 for which a notice of lien has 

15 been filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 

16 of such Code, except that such term does not in17 clude— 

18 ‘‘(A) a debt that is being paid in a timely 

19 manner pursuant to an agreement under sec20 tion 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; 

21 ‘‘(B) a debt with respect to which a collec22 tion due process hearing under section 6330 of 

23 such Code, or relief under subsection (a), (b), 

24 or (f) of section 6015 of such Code, is re25 quested or pending; 


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1 ‘‘(C) a debt with respect to which a levy 

2 has been issued under section 6331 of such 

3 Code (or, in the case of an applicant for em4 ployment, a debt with respect to which the ap5 plicant agrees to be subject to a levy issued 

6 under such section); and 

7 ‘‘(D) a debt with respect to which relief 

8 under section 6343(a)(1)(D) of such Code is 

9 granted; 

10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ means an employee in 

11 or under an agency, including an individual de12 scribed in sections 2104(b) and 2105(e); and 

13 ‘‘(3) the term ‘agency’ means— 

14 ‘‘(A) an Executive agency; 

15 ‘‘(B) the United States Postal Service; 

16 ‘‘(C) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(D) an employing authority in the legisla19 tive branch. 

20 ‘‘§ 7382. Ineligibility for employment 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), any 

22 person who has a seriously delinquent tax debt shall be 

23 ineligible to be appointed or to continue serving as an em24 ployee. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.—The head of each 

2 agency shall take appropriate measures to ensure that 

3 each person applying for employment with such agency 

4 shall be required to submit (as part of the application for 

5 employment) certification that such person does not have 

6 any seriously delinquent tax debt. 

7 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Man8 agement, in consultation with the Internal Revenue Serv9 ice, shall, for purposes of carrying out this section with 

10 respect to the executive branch, promulgate any regula11 tions which the Office considers necessary, except that 

12 such regulations shall provide for the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) All due process rights, afforded by chapter 

14 75 and any other provision of law, shall apply with 

15 respect to a determination under this section that an 

16 applicant is ineligible to be appointed or that an em17 ployee is ineligible to continue serving. 

18 ‘‘(2) Before any such determination is given ef19 fect with respect to an individual, the individual 

20 shall be afforded 180 days to demonstrate that such 

21 individual’s debt is one described in subparagraph 

22 (A), (B), (C), or (D) of section 7381(a)(1). 

23 ‘‘(3) An employee may continue to serve, in a 

24 situation involving financial hardship, if the contin25 ued service of such employee is in the best interests 


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1 of the United States, as determined on a case-by2 case basis. 

3 ‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Director of the 

4 Office of Personnel Management shall report annually to 

5 Congress on the number of exemptions made pursuant to 

6 subsection (c)(3). 

7 ‘‘§ 7383. Review of public records 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall provide for 

9 such reviews of public records as the head of such agency 

10 considers appropriate to determine if a notice of lien (as 

11 described in section 7381(1)) has been filed with respect 

12 to an employee of or an applicant for employment with 

13 such agency. 

14 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUESTS.—If a notice of lien is 

15 discovered under subsection (a) with respect to an em16 ployee or applicant for employment, the agency may— 

17 ‘‘(1) request that the employee or applicant exe18 cute and submit a form authorizing the Secretary of 

19 the Treasury to disclose to the head of the agency 

20 information limited to describing whether the em21 ployee or applicant has a seriously delinquent tax 

22 debt; and 

23 ‘‘(2) contact the Secretary of the Treasury to 

24 request tax information limited to describing whethVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:48 Jan 16, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H249.IH H249

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1 er the employee or applicant has a seriously delin2 quent tax debt. 

3 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION FORM.—The Secretary of the 

4 Treasury shall make available to all agencies a standard 

5 form for the authorization described in subsection (b)(1). 

6 ‘‘(d) NEGATIVE CONSIDERATION.—The head of an 

7 agency, in considering an individual’s application for em8 ployment or in making an employee appraisal or evalua9 tion, shall give negative consideration to a refusal or fail10 ure to comply with a request under subsection (b)(1). 

11 ‘‘§ 7384. Confidentiality 

12 ‘‘Neither the head nor any other employee of an agen13 cy may— 

14 ‘‘(1) use any information furnished under the 

15 provisions of this subchapter for any purpose other 

16 than the administration of this subchapter; 

17 ‘‘(2) make any publication whereby the infor18 mation furnished by or with respect to any par19 ticular individual under this subchapter can be iden20 tified; or 

21 ‘‘(3) permit anyone who is not an employee of 

22 such agency to examine or otherwise have access to 

23 any such information.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for chap2 ter 73 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by add3 ing at the end the following: 

‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—INELIGIBILITY OF PERSONS HAVING SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT TAX DEBTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT 

‘‘7381. Definitions. 

‘‘7382. Ineligibility for employment. 

‘‘7383. Review of public records. 

‘‘7384. Confidentiality.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

5 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

6 take effect 9 months after the date of enactment of this 

7 Act. 

Æ 


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