A House Ways and Means investigative subcommittee has found that of the 23 largest recipients of Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, the majority have unpaid tax bills. As many as 13 financial institutions owe a combined $220 million, while two individual firms owe in excess of $100 million each to the IRS, the panel found. The committee said it cannot disclose the names of the companies. "To get money from Treasury, banks and others must sign a contract that states they have no material unpaid taxes. Treasury did not ask these banks and companies to turn over their tax records. Treasury relied on the signed statements when it agreed to invest billions of taxpayer dollars," said House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee Chairman John Lewis, D-Ga. "This is shameful. It is a disgrace. The American people are fed up, they are fired up, and they're not going to take it anymore."
More details will be available in this afternoon's CongressDailyPM.
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