Rep. Phil Hart
The Idaho Board of Tax Appeals has rejected a state lawmaker’s bid to fight an order to pay $53,000 in back income taxes, interest and penalties, saying the filing was untimely.
Idaho Rep. Phil Hart insists he missed the deadline to appeal because of his status as an elected official. The deadline ran out 10 days before the January start of the 2010 Idaho Legislature. Hart, who has long argued that income taxes are unconstitutional, filed his appeal on March 31.
The Athol Republican’s tax troubles were at the center of a House Ethics Committee investigation last month. The ethics panel dismissed charges that Hart has conflicts of interest in the Idaho Legislature due to his tax problems, but delayed a decision on whether he abused his status as a lawmaker to win delays in his state and federal tax cases. (AP)
