IRS Agents Rented Million-Dollar Townhomes, Spent Hundreds of Nights in Luxury Hotels Last Year

Taxpayers paid for IRS employees to rent million-dollar townhomes and luxury apartments, and covered hundreds of nights at the Ritz Carlton and other five star hotels during 2015.A Senate Finance Committee report on long-term IRS travel released Thursday found that the 27 agents who traveled for more than half the year cost taxpayers, on average, $1.4 million per person. More than half of the travel expenses logged by those employees were for visits to Washington, D.C., and many times the IRS paid for luxury lodgings that the committee called "excessive and inappropriate."

That description is probably an understatement.

Terry Milholland, the former chief technology officer for the IRS, spent 168 days during fiscal year 2015 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C., costing taxpayers nearly $39,000. The hotel, located off H Street just blocks from the White House, boasts "spacious rooms that are cosmopolitan and sleek," featuring "infinite luxuries."

According to the Senate report, Milholland would routinely commute to Washington on Monday mornings and stay at the Grant Hyatt through Thursday, when he would turn to his home in Texas. Even though the Grand Hyatt is located within walking distance of the IRS Building and a Metro station, Milholland would take a taxi from the hotel to work every morning, running the meter for more than $1,500 during the year.