Rep. Phil Hart
The federal government has sued a tax-protesting northern Idaho legislator, aiming to foreclose on his log home to satisfy unpaid taxes and debts totaling nearly $550,000.
Rep. Phil Hart has been fighting federal and state governments for years over his income taxes, which he argues are unconstitutional.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Hart fraudulently transferred title to his home in Athol in northern Idaho to keep the federal government from seizing it to help pay his tax bill.
U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson in Boise said on Thursday that federal tax liens on the property should be foreclosed, Hart’s home sold and that the proceeds should go toward satisfying his debts.
Hart, a four-term lawmaker, built the home with timber he took illegally from state land in the 1990s. (AP)
