More than 224,000 people who received passports in 2008 owed a total of over $5.8 billion in federal income taxes, but Congress would need to change the laws to enable the State Department to coordinate with the IRS on denying them passports, according to a new government report.
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The 224,000 tax delinquents who received the passports represented about 1 percent of the 16 million individuals who received passports in 2008. However, the estimated amount of unpaid federal taxes is probably understated because it excludes individuals who have not filed tax returns or underreported income.
In addition, according to State Department officials, the department cannot compel a passport applicant to provide a Social Security number. As a result, the State Department’s records sometimes did not contain a valid SSN, which is necessary to match passport data to IRS data. In addition, the number of passport holders and dollars owed only includes one year of passports that were issued, substantially understating the total tax debt for all passport holders.
The GAO selected a sample of 25 passport recipients to investigate for abuse related to the federal tax system or criminal activity. Of these cases, at least 10 passport recipients had been indicted or convicted of federal laws. In addition, the IRS assessed trust fund recovery penalties on several passport recipients when the individual did not remit payroll taxes to the federal government. Rather than fulfill their role as trustees of this money and forward it to the IRS, they diverted the money for other purposes. Some of the individuals accumulated substantial wealth and assets, including million-dollar houses and luxury vehicles, while failing to pay their federal taxes. At least 16 passport recipients traveled outside the country while owing federal taxes. At least four passport recipients resided in another country at the time of the GAO’s investigation.
Two individuals used the identities of deceased individuals to fraudulently obtain passports and then used these passports to travel to Mexico, France and Africa. In one case, the unpaid tax debt belonged to a deceased individual, and in the other case, the debt was incurred by the imposter. The GAO referred the two cases to the IRS for further investigation.
The GAO recommended that if Congress is interested in pursuing a policy of linking federal tax debt collection to passport issuance, it may consider taking steps to enable the State Department to screen and prevent individuals who owe federal taxes from receiving passports. This could include asking the State Department and the IRS to jointly study policy and practical issues, and develop options with the appropriate criteria and privacy safeguards.
