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By Ashley Killough, CNN

updated 5:08 PM EST, Wed November 19, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(CNN) -- Civil rights leader Al Sharpton sharply denounced an extensive New York Times report that he and his companies are subject to $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens.

The MSNBC host said in a press conference Wednesday that the $4.5 million was the original figure he was ordered to pay back in 2008, but that he has been making regular payments since then and the amount is now less.

Sharpton did not give the outstanding balance owed by him and his for-profit companies --Raw Talent and Revals Communications.

Rather, he focused his remarks on how much money his nonprofit group, the National Action Network, has paid back. The liens against that organization, however, were not lumped into the $4.5 million figure reported by the Times.

The Times reported that Sharpton is still liable for personal federal tax liens of more than $3 million, and state tax liens of $777,657. The companies owe another $717,329 on state and federal tax liens.

But Sharpton argued that it wasn't possible that he still owed $4.5 million.

"If we owed $4.5 million in '08 then how could we owe this now, unless you're saying that everybody just went to sleep on this and just gave us a pass, which is ridiculous," he said.

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Sharpton fights NYT story that he owes $4.5 million in taxes

There are few political figures who have had as many lives as Al Sharpton. He has been so many things. A boy preacher. A roadie for James Brown. A racial rabble-rouser. Tracksuit aficionado. New York tabloid staple. Senate, mayoral and presidential candidate. Cable news host. Presidential adviser.

And almost like clockwork, stories emerge from time to time, about his, shall we say, complicated, finances.This week, the New York Times posteda story about his messy management of the National Action Network, a grassroots group he founded in 1991. Here's the key paragraph:

Mr. Sharpton has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent and other bills. Records reviewed by The New York Times show more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses.

The story comes as Sharpton's power and prominence with the powerful has never been higher. With Ferguson, Missouri on edge awaiting a grand jury ruling on the shooting of an unarmed black man, Sharpton will assume his role as protestor-in-chief in the coming days.In Washington, he has a direct line to President Obama's top advisors, most recently weighing in on Loretta Lynch as Obama's pick for Attorney General. And in New York, Mayor Bill DeBlasio counts him as a friend, though they have publicly clashed. Hillary Clinton, should she run, will likely have to reckon with Sharpton. For conservatives, he has been the favorite boogey man and consummate race-baiter. (Though Newt Gingrich embraced him in 2009 as part of an education tour.)

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says the situation in Ferguson, Mo., is very tense as the community awaits word on whether a grand jury will indict a white police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, a young, unarmed black man. (AP)

Sharpton's popularity is wrapped up in race and party politics, with African Americans and Democrats in New York City viewing him favorably while whites and Republicans have a far dimmer view of him, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. Almost 80 percent of black New Yorkers say that Sharpton has been a positive force in the city; 64 percent of whites say he has been a negative force. Among Democrats, almost 60 percent say he has been a positive force; 81 percent of Republicans saying he is a negative force.

In a press release touting the poll numbers, Sharpton said: "We have made mistakes, but we have and will continue to correct those mistakes. Our work has far outweighed our mistakes and I am neither focused on the polls or the attacks."

At a 45-minute press conference Wednesday morning he did address the Times story. He began with an update of his plans around Ferguson and Staten Island and then dismissed the Times story out of hand, vowing not to get into a back and forth with the New York Times, but then promptly getting into a back and forth with the New York Times."The story is at best misleading and totally out of context," he said, arguing that much of the information in the story was based on old tax bills that he had set up payment plans for.

But more than anything, Sharpton wanted to cast himself in the company of other liberals -- many of them elected officials -- who have been, in his mind, unfairly castigated."I think it's political," Sharpton said of the attention being paid to his finances. "A lot of people don't like the fact that President Obama is the president. A lot of people don't like the fact that Bill de Blasio won for mayor. And they certainly don't like the fact that I'm still here, and I ain't going nowhere."

Of course, it doesn't take a financial genius to see that neither Obama nor de Blasio are currently carrying $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens against them and organizations with which they are affiliated, making Sharpton's comparison somewhat specious.

Read more from the original source:
The Fix: The nine lives of Al Sharpton

Al Sharpton is in the news again but this time its not about civil rights but government liens. At a press conference in his Harlem office today, Sharpton lashed out at a New York Times article reporting that, together with his for profit companies, he was the subject of $4.5 million in federal and state tax liens.

Sharpton called the report misleading and totally out of context.

Sharptons tax troubles first made news in 2008 when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filed personal liens against Sharpton totaling nearly $1 million. At that time, he also owed nearly $365,558 to the City of New York for unpaid personal income tax and his for-profit company, Rev. Al Communications, owed the state of New York $175,962 in delinquent taxes.

And that wasnt all: about that same time, an investigation was ordered into finances of Sharptons nonprofit group, National Action Network. The group did not deny inaccuracies with respect to reporting and they did agree that they had failed to file timely tax returns as required. Charlie King, the acting executive director for National Action Network, blamed the groups success for their troubles, saying that the organization was not prepared for the sizable increases in donations and income; those donors at the time included Anheuser-Busch, which gave more than $100,000 in 2007, and politicians such as former New York Gov. David Paterson (D-NY), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY).

National Action Network kept up with the growth by paying bills using payroll tax money: in other words, money that was collected from employees to be submitted, along with an employer contribution, to the tax authorities. Since that money isnt simply owed but collected on behalf of third parties to be remitted as tax authorities, payroll taxes are often referred to as trust fund taxes (you may have heard that term as it applies to sales taxes for the same reasons). Trust fund taxes are generally not dischargeable and grow, together with interest, until they are paid off.

The New York Times reported that the total amount that National Action Network owed was just under a million in 2003 but ballooned to almost $1.9 million by 2006. By 2009, more than a $1 million still remained outstanding at a time that Sharpton was picking up a $250,000 paycheck from the group.

Sharpton has maintained that the tax debt was not willful and said today that the group was making an effort to pay. The outstanding balance as of last December, according to Sharpton, includes over $400,000 in penalties.

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014, in New York. Sharpton spoke about his plans for thepending grand jury decisions in the deaths of Michael Brown in a St. Louis suburb and Eric Garner in New York and also addressed tax allegations in a New York Times story. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Nonprofit organizations are not allowed to be owned by an individual or group of individuals which may explain why that figure was not included in the New York Times $4.5 million tally. That number was calculated separately with claims that Sharpton has individual liens for $3 million in federal taxes and $777,657 in state taxes. Sharptons for profit companies, Raw Talent and Revals Communications, reflect a combined $717,329 in liens for state and federal taxes. The total is a whopping $4.5 million, a total that Sharpton denies, calling the amount absolutely inaccurate. However, he was unable (or unwilling, your call) to provide the amount he actually owed.

For a savvy business man who claims hes been able to reach from the streets to the suites, Sharpton appeared to illustrate a shocking misunderstanding of the tax system, telling reporters:

Continue reading here:
Al Sharpton Denounces Claims He Owes Millions In Taxes To IRS, New York

FILE: August 23, 2014: The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks at a rally in the Staten Island borough of New York, N.Y.(REUTERS)

The Rev. Al Sharpton has made a remarkable rise to national prominence, from community organizer to President Obamas consultant, amid a long and lesser-known history of debt and tax obligations totaling millions of dollars.

Sharpton and his for-profit businesses owe more than $4.5 million in state and federal tax liens, according to The New York Times.

And his influential nonprofit group, National Action Network, the Times said, appears to be in a similar situation, saddled with years of unpaid travel and hotel expenses while apparently staying afloat by not paying federal payroll taxes for employees.

The newspaper also suggested that Sharpton is not paying enough or fast enough to reduce his obligation to the state of New York, a situation he sharply refuted Tuesday.

The 60-year-old civil rights leader told FoxNews.com that he has an agreement with the government to repay his personal and business-related taxes and that his payments are on time.

We have a signed agreement, he said. And what is in the agreement has been kept. Weve been up to date. This is the most bogus story in the world.

He also made clear that the roughly $1 million raised at New York event to celebrate his 60th birthday, on which The Times reported, will go toward repaying his debts.

Sharpton also argued that his work ethic and determination are above reproach but acknowledged his shortcomings as an administrator.

To be sure, Sharpton has come a long way since his days as a robust preacher and activist working the streets of Brooklyn in a jogging suit.

View post:
Sharpton's debt issues resurface amid political rise

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton sharply denounced an extensive New York Times report that he and his companies are subject to $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens.

The MSNBC host said in a press conference Wednesday that the $4.5 million was the original figure he was ordered to pay back in 2008, but that he has been making regular payments since then and the amount is now less.

Sharpton did not give the outstanding balance owed by him and his for-profit companies Raw Talent and Revals Communications.

Rather, he focused his remarks on how much money his nonprofit group, the National Action Network, has paid back. The liens against that organization, however, were not lumped into the $4.5 million figure reported by the Times.

The Times reported that Sharpton is still liable for personal federal tax liens of more than $3 million, and state tax liens of $777,657. The companies owe another $717,329 on state and federal tax liens.

But Sharpton argued that it wasnt possible that he still owed $4.5 million.

If we owed $4.5 million in 08 then how could we owe this now, unless youre saying that everybody just went to sleep on this and just gave us a pass, which is ridiculous, he said.

Sharpton has been a regular face in New York and Washington political circles. The report points out that President Barack Obama has raised money for Sharptons group, and that Sharpton attended the recent announcement that Loretta Lynch would be the White Houses pick to be the next Attorney General.

Sharptons former aide Rachel Noerdlinger is also adviser to the wife of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Chirlane McCray.

Sharpton argued that he and the National Action Network could feasibly each pay off their respective balances in one day, but could not yet afford to pay the penalties and interest.

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Al Sharpton fires back over $4.5 million in unpaid taxes report