Tax Issues and Security Clearances

By John V. Berry, www.berrylegal.com

We have had an increase in security clearance cases arising over the last 5 years involving the issue of taxes and security clearances. This article discusses some of the issues that security clearance holders or applicants have had with tax issues and how they have affected their ability to obtain or maintain a security clearance. Tax issues fall under Guideline F of the Adjudicative Guidelines, involving Financial Considerations. The Adjudicative Guidelines are the rules that federal agencies apply to federal employees and government contractors that must hold security clearances.

Specifically, with regards to tax issues, Guideline F, Paragraph 18(f) provides the security concern that the government has with respect to taxes: “failure to file or fraudulently filing annual Federal, state or local income tax returns or failure to pay annual Federal, state or local income tax as required.”  This article discusses some of the more prevalent tax issues and what can be done about them to give one the best chance of maintaining or obtaining a security clearance. Please go to page 2 of this article for a full discussion of these issues.