IRS employees spent $1.4 million in taxpayer funds on lavish travel and hotels, according to a new report from the Senate Finance Committee.
Sens. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) and Ron Wyden (D., Ore.), the committee's chairman and ranking member, respectively, wrote in May 2016 to the IRS and other federal agencies to evaluate their travel policies and practices, asking what the costs of those activities were and whether or not the agencies have done anything to reduce costs.
The Finance Committee found that the IRS had 27 employees who traveled 125 business days at a cost of more than $1.4 million in fiscal year 2015. The average cost of each trip totaled $52,800 and lasted an average of 207 days.
One employee racked up $72,544 in hotel costs, spending $43,726 at the Ritz Carlton in Arlington, Virginia, alone. Another employee spent nearly half a year living in the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C., which cost taxpayers $38,799.
Instead of opting for hotels, some of the employees spent money at million-dollar townhouses and apartments. One employee spent $4,950 per month on a $1.07 million dollar townhouse in Arlington, Virginia. Another employee rented out an apartment in downtown Chicago that overlooked the Chicago River for a rate of $4,605 per month.
Aside from lodging costs, IRS employees spent money on dry cleaning, cable and Internet bills, and taxi rides, including a $100 Uber Black car service tab for an airport ride. One employee spent $1,513 on dry cleaning, another spent $178 per month for a cable bundle that included premium channels, and another employee spent $1,185 for a monthly metro pass—which exceeded the daily commuting cost from their lodging to the IRS headquarters.
The report said that while federal employees can spend up to $7,099 per month when traveling to Washington, D.C., there is virtually no circumstance where someone would need to do so.
"The lodging selected by these employees often appeared to be excessive and inappropriate," the report said. "The committee also notes that there were a number of instances where vouchers and/or receipts appeared to be missing when compared to the initial aggregate IRS data for all employees traveling more than half a year."
"The committee found that while the IRS has a number of employees who travel more than half of the fiscal year incurring $1.4 million in travel costs, the IRS has routinely failed to take allowable steps to reduce its travel expenditures," Sen. Hatch said. "The lack of effort by IRS employees to exercise prudence and economy when utilizing taxpayer funds is concerning, and more importantly, a direct apparent violation of the [Federal Travel Regulation]."
"The IRS appreciates the recommendations of the committee, and we will be providing a response to the committee in the very near future," said a spokesman from the IRS. "We will be closely reviewing the report."