SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Employee Tax 
Accountability Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. INELIGIBILITY OF PERSONS HAVING SERIOUSLY 
DELINQUENT TAX DEBTS FOR FEDERAL EM-
PLOYMENT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 73 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER VIII—INELIGIBILITY OF PER-
SONS HAVING SERIOUSLY DELINQUENT 
TAX DEBTS FOR FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT 
‘‘§ 7381. Definitions 
‘‘For purposes of this subchapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘seriously delinquent tax debt’ 
means an outstanding debt under the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 for which a notice of lien has 
been filed in public records pursuant to section 6323 
of such Code, except that such term does not in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) a debt that is being paid in a timely 
manner pursuant to an agreement under sec-
tion 6159 or section 7122 of such Code; 
‘‘(B) a debt with respect to which a collec-
tion due process hearing under section 6330 of 
such Code, or relief under subsection (a), (b),
or (f) of section 6015 of such Code, is re-
quested or pending; 
‘‘(C) a debt with respect to which a levy 
has been issued under section 6331 of such 
Code (or, in the case of an applicant for em-
ployment, a debt with respect to which the ap-
plicant agrees to be subject to a levy issued 
under such section); and 
‘‘(D) a debt with respect to which relief 
under section 6343(a)(1)(D) of such Code is 
granted; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘employee’ means an employee in 
or under an agency, including an individual de-
scribed in sections 2104(b) and 2105(e); and 
‘‘(3) the term ‘agency’ means— 
‘‘(A) an Executive agency; 
‘‘(B) the United States Postal Service; 
‘‘(C) the Postal Regulatory Commission; 
and 
‘‘(D) an employing authority in the legisla-
tive branch. 
‘‘§ 7382. Ineligibility for employment 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsection (c), any 
person who has a seriously delinquent tax debt shall be
ineligible to be appointed or to continue serving as an em-
ployee. 
‘‘(b) DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT.—The head of each 
agency shall take appropriate measures to ensure that 
each person applying for employment with such agency 
shall be required to submit (as part of the application for 
employment) certification that such person does not have 
any seriously delinquent tax debt. 
‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—The Office of Personnel Man-
agement, in consultation with the Internal Revenue Serv-
ice, shall, for purposes of carrying out this section with 
respect to the executive branch, promulgate any regula-
tions which the Office considers necessary, except that 
such regulations shall provide for the following: 
‘‘(1) All due process rights, afforded by chapter 
75 and any other provision of law, shall apply with 
respect to a determination under this section that an 
applicant is ineligible to be appointed or that an em-
ployee is ineligible to continue serving. 
‘‘(2) Before any such determination is given ef-
fect with respect to an individual, the individual 
shall be afforded 180 days to demonstrate that such 
individual’s debt is one described in subparagraph 
(A), (B), (C), or (D) of section 7381(a)(1).
‘‘(3) An employee may continue to serve, in a 
situation involving financial hardship, if the contin-
ued service of such employee is in the best interests 
of the United States, as determined on a case-by- 
case basis. 
‘‘(d) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Director of the 
Office of Personnel Management shall report annually to 
Congress on the number of exemptions made pursuant to 
subsection (c)(3). 
‘‘§ 7383. Review of public records 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each agency shall provide for 
such reviews of public records as the head of such agency 
considers appropriate to determine if a notice of lien (as 
described in section 7381(1)) has been filed with respect 
to an employee of or an applicant for employment with 
such agency. 
‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL REQUESTS.—If a notice of lien is 
discovered under subsection (a) with respect to an em-
ployee or applicant for employment, the agency may— 
‘‘(1) request that the employee or applicant exe-
cute and submit a form authorizing the Secretary of 
the Treasury to disclose to the head of the agency 
information limited to describing whether the em-
ployee or applicant has a seriously delinquent tax 
debt; and
‘‘(2) contact the Secretary of the Treasury to 
request tax information limited to describing wheth-
er the employee or applicant has a seriously delin-
quent tax debt. 
‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION FORM.—The Secretary of the 
Treasury shall make available to all agencies a standard 
form for the authorization described in subsection (b)(1). 
‘‘(d) NEGATIVE CONSIDERATION.—The head of an 
agency, in considering an individual’s application for em-
ployment or in making an employee appraisal or evalua-
tion, shall give negative consideration to a refusal or fail-
ure to comply with a request under subsection (b)(1). 
‘‘§ 7384. Confidentiality 
‘‘Neither the head nor any other employee of an agen-
cy may— 
‘‘(1) use any information furnished under the 
provisions of this subchapter for any purpose other 
than the administration of this subchapter; 
‘‘(2) make any publication whereby the infor-
mation furnished by or with respect to any par-
ticular individual under this subchapter can be iden-
tified; or 
‘‘(3) permit anyone who is not an employee of 
such agency to examine or otherwise have access to 
any such information.’’.