Tell it to the Reverend Al
Tax fraud is a serious crime, tweeted New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, in a boast about the indictment of the Syracuse owner of an auto-repair shop for his failure to pay $125,000 in sales taxes hed collected.
Schneiderman is right that evading taxes is a serious matter.
Unless, that is, youre Al Sharpton.
Turns out Rev. Al still owes Albany $916,000 from tax liens filed against him between 2008 and 2010. And while Sharpton recently insisted to The New York Times hed paid off those liens, state officials say otherwise.
Nor is this Sharptons first and only tax difficulty. On the contrary: Hes long been in fiscal hot water with state and federal authorities over unpaid taxes, non-existent record-keeping and improper use of non-profit funds for personal expenses.
And lets not forget the two fires six years apart that conveniently destroyed Sharptons financial records just as he was about to turn them over to officials.
His current outstanding liens reportedly total more than $4.5 million, which hes been paying down.
But save for a 1993 guilty plea to a misdemeanor count of failing to file a return, Sharpton has never faced criminal tax-related charges. Officials have always accepted his explanation that when it comes to keeping finances straight, hes simply in over his head.
This despite his serial tax problems including the kind of practices the US Treasurys inspector general has called potentially criminal if done willfully. Meanwhile, he lives high on the hog.
So heres a question for New Yorks attorney general: When will we see a Schneiderman tweet about the Rev. Als unpaid taxes?
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Tell it to the Reverend Al