The New York Times reports today that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has hired the tax accounting firm of Watkins, Meegan, Drury & Company, LLC, to “scour his tax returns” for errors:
When Mr. Rangel, a Harlem Democrat, announced plans to hire an accounting firm two months go, amid calls for him to relinquish his powerful position as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, his spokesman said the congressman was taking the “unprecedented step” of allowing the firm to report directly to the ethics committee because he was determined to be as forthcoming and transparent as possible.
The congressman asked the ethics committee to open its investigation after news reports about irregularities in his personal finances — including that Mr. Rangel, whose position gives him vast influence over tax policy, had failed to report $75,000 in rental income from a villa in the Dominican Republic on his tax returns, and that he owed $9,500 in back taxes.
When he first announced his intention to hire a forensic accounting firm, Mr. Rangel acknowledged sloppy bookkeeping and mistakes on his forms and said he would allow the last 20 years of his tax returns and financial disclosure forms to be audited. (The emphasis is mine)
20 years? That goes back to 1988!
If Mr. Rangel still has a copy of his 1988 tax return (or any return more than 10 years old) he qualifies as a major pack rat. If he doesn’t have the return, the IRS will not be able to supply a copy because it doesn’t keep tax returns that old.
Ya think Rangel knew this when he made his promise?
Anyway, assuming Rangel does find copies of his last 20 tax returns, I don’t think it’s a wise move for him to make them public. Who knows what his political enemies will find in those old records?
I wrote about Mr. Rangel and his tax problems in previous blog posts titled Give Me That Tax Return Charlie Rangel Before you Hurt Yourself and No Hablas Espanol, Senor Rangel?.
3 responses so far ↓
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