Unpaid federal tax debts total US$373 B
Individuals and businesses owed the federal government a combined total of US$373 billion in unpaid tax debts. Of this total, some US$258 billion are from individuals and US$115 billion from businesses, says a 2011 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO reported that some of these tax debts, ranging from US$5,000 to US$25,000 per debtor, were in the collection process. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)already notified the tax debtors but some of them resorted to dispute, while others requested for installment agreements, both totalling at least $60 billion. Sadly, some US$110 billion of the total was classified by the IRS as uncollectable. "IRS files tax liens on some tax debts and these liens are public records that credit bureaus routinely pick up and add to their data. Over half of the total amount owed was subject to liens, cutting across the above categories," GAO said. According to GAO, these tax liens and debt data could be picked by