Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, pointing out its staff was not following federal travel rules that would have cut costs. He added the IRS was allowing exceptions to its internal rules about travel by executives.
According to a report from Senate Finance Committee staff, 27 employees of the IRS traveled for 125 business days or more during fiscal year 2015, at a cost of more than $1.4 million.
"The number of employees who travel more than half of the year and the cost at which they do is simply unacceptable," the staff wrote in the report.
The committee looked at 15 of the cases and found lodging during the travel appeared "excessive and inappropriate."
In one of the cases, an employee obtained an 11-month lease on a Chicago apartment that cost $4,605 per month, according to the committee's report.
In addition, six of the employees had laundry and dry cleaning expenses over $500, The Hill reported.
"Luxury apartments, black car service, and unnecessary Amtrak Acela rides cannot continue," the committee's report concluded.
"The lack of effort by IRS employees to exercise prudence and economy when utilizing taxpayer funds is concerning," Hatch said.
He asked the IRS to report back on how it would deal with the report's findings.
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