TARP recipients almost current on unpaid taxes

The Treasury Inspector General of Taxation Administration recently announced that nearly all of the unpaid taxes owed by Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) recipients had been resolved. 

Internal Revenue Service records show that at the start of the TARP program 130 of the 558 firms that received assistance had unpaid taxes totaling $530.8 million. By December 2009, 97 percent of outstanding balances had been satisfied, according to the IRS. 

Federal corporate income taxes accounted for the majority of amounts outstanding, with more than $400 million being owed when the program began. More than $12 million of the $400 million figure was overdue by more than 6 months.  

House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis (D-Ga.) hosted a hearing on the issue in March of 2009, and revealed that 13 of the top TARP recipients owed more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes. He called on the inspector general to examine the matter.  

"It is important for taxpayers to know that the Congress and the administration are working together to oversee the TARP recipients," he said Monday in prepared remarks. "To maintain public confidence, we must ensure that those who benefit from federal programs timely pay their fair share of taxes."