Proposed 'Tax DODGER Act' Makes Serious Tax Debt a Firing Offense for Federal Workers

The proposed Tax Delinquencies and Overdue Debts are Government Employees Responsibility Act, or the "Tax DODGER Act," sets up two major changes: it mandates public reporting on federal employee tax debt, and it makes having seriously delinquent federal tax debt grounds for being fired or denied a federal job. Specifically, Section 2 requires the Treasury Secretary to release an annual, publicly available report detailing the number and total dollar amount of delinquent tax debt owed by current and retired federal employees and military personnel, broken down by the specific agency they work for. This report must be delivered to four key Congressional committees every year.

The Public Scoreboard: Who Owes What

Think of Section 2 as setting up a public scoreboard for tax compliance within the federal workforce. The report won't name names, but it will tell the public exactly how many people at the Department of Transportation, or the VA, or the Postal Service, are behind on their taxes, and by how much. For the average person, this is all about transparency and accountability. If you’re paying your taxes, the idea is that the people who work for the government should be too. The bill requires this data to be broken down across five groups—current civilian, retired civilian, active military, reserves/National Guard, and retired military—providing a granular look at where the debt is concentrated.

Tax Debt Becomes a Job Killer

Section 3 is where the real impact hits. It amends federal employment law to state that if you have “seriously delinquent tax debt,” you are ineligible for a federal job appointment or continued employment. What counts as “seriously delinquent”? It’s a debt the IRS has officially assessed and can legally pursue, like through levies or court action. If you’re a federal employee or applying for a job, you’ll have to certify that you don’t have this kind of debt.

Crucially, the bill carves out some common-sense exceptions. If you’re already paying off your debt under an installment agreement, if you’ve requested a hearing to dispute the debt (like a Collection Due Process hearing), or if the IRS has put a levy on you and then released it, your debt is not considered seriously delinquent. This means if you’re actively trying to resolve the issue, you should be in the clear. However, if you’re a job applicant and the agency finds a public tax lien against you, they can ask you to sign an authorization form allowing them to check your status directly with the Treasury Secretary. This is a significant step into the financial privacy of applicants and employees.

The 180-Day Clock and the Hardship Clause

The bill does include due process protections. Before an agency can fire you based on this debt, they have to give you 180 days to sort it out. This grace period is meant to give you time to prove that your debt falls under one of those exceptions—like getting on a payment plan or formally fighting the assessment. Furthermore, the head of the agency can grant a case-by-case exemption if they certify that keeping you employed is “best for the country” or if losing the job would cause you “financial hardship.” While this sounds fair, that “best for the country” clause is pretty vague and could be used inconsistently across different agencies. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will have to report annually on how many of these hardship exemptions are granted.

Finally, the bill specifically targets willful misconduct. If there’s a final ruling that an employee willfully failed to file a required tax return or willfully understated their tax liability, the agency head can take personnel action, which can include firing them. Notably, the bill explicitly prohibits putting these employees on paid administrative leave while they wait for the action to be finalized. This entire employment section goes into effect 270 days after the bill becomes law, giving agencies and employees less than a year to prepare for the new rules.