Repeal of contractor tax withholding is sign of economic times

Scott Amey, general counsel and contracting specialist at the Project for Government Oversight, says the mood in Washington is much different from five years ag...

The House has repealed a law to withhold money from federal contractors. The law had required the government to hold onto 3 percent of what contractors are owed until they pay their taxes.

The repeal is a sign of the economic times, said Scott Amey, general counsel and contracting specialist at the Project for Government Oversight, in an interview with In Depth with Francis Rose.

The five-year-old law was set to take effect in 2012. However, a repeal received overwhelming support as a way to let companies keep money that could help create jobs.

The government, however, must still figure out how to go after contractors who still haven’t paid their taxes. A Government Accountability Office report released this summer found contractors who received Recovery Act funds owed $757 million in back taxes.

“The government still has a problem here it needs to struggle with,” Amey said.

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