America's Tax Cheating Politicians

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-04-15/the-daily-beast-ranks-the-party-democratic-or-republican-with-the-most-tax-cheats/?cid=fromthebeast

More than 3,000 federal tax crimes were referred for prosecution in 2010, and a few of them happened have an elected official as the defendant. With Tax Day coming up, The Daily Beast scours the records to find whether Democrats or Republicans have the worse tax problem.

With Emancipation Day pushing this year’s tax deadline to Monday, filers will have a few extra days to complete and review their IRS forms. And if those who haven’t completed their taxes yet also hold public office, they’re going to want to be extra careful.

While most politicians uphold their public duty with integrity, a few are sometimes brought down not by their deeds, but by their taxes. As Al Capone found out in the 1930s, if authorities don’t have the evidence to convict on corruption or other more serious charges, they can always turn to tax returns. That’s because taxes have to be paid on all income, regardless of source.

Since Tax Day will be the talk of the weekend, The Daily Beast scoured hundreds of news reports going back to the 1990s to find which political party can claim the most tax offenders. We came up with a list of 23 politicians who have been embroiled in tax scandals over the past two decades.

More at the link --