Chris Abele: Tax Lien

UPDATE: Abele brushes off tax lien, County exec candidate says it's old news

First, Abele's wrong whe he says it's old news. Milwaukee County voters didn't know about it. It's not "old news" to them.

Second, of course Abele would brush off the story of the tax lien. He brushes off parking tickets and an OWI and court dates. That's the Abele Way.
__________________

I've been under the impression that Chris Abele legally managed to avoid paying income taxes. I thought he obeyed tax laws and simply utilized legitimate loopholes that allowed him to keep from handing his money over to the government.

I was wrong.

Union member Dan Bice, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, writes:

Millionaire philanthropist Chris Abele, one of two candidates for Milwaukee County executive, was hit with a federal tax lien in 2003 over millions in unpaid federal taxes.

The lien, filed in November 2003, said Abele owed the Internal Revenue Service more than $2.3 million in income taxes for the 1999 tax year, according to records obtained from the county Register of Deed's Office. The lien was placed on his condo on N. Prospect Ave. at the time.

Records show the lien was released a little more than a month later, meaning he either paid off the sum or set up a payment plan acceptable to federal tax collectors.

One tax attorney - who is not familiar with Abele's case - said a tax lien simply means that federal officials are taking steps to try to collect money the agency believes it is owed.

"The existence of a tax lien does not require that there was some malfeasance," said Robert Teuber, a tax expert with Weiss Berzowski Brady who is not supporting either candidate. "It just requires that there was a disagreement on whether something was treated a certain way for taxes."

Oh, no. Of course not.

Failing to pay millions of dollars in federal taxes and the existence of a tax lien doesn't indicate malfeasance on Abele's part. It just indicates a "disagreement."

Bice admits Robert Teuber, his tax attorney source, "is not familiar with Abele's case."

In other words, because Teuber is speaking very generally, the reader cannot assume that the tax lien on Abele's condo was a simple "disagreement." That appears, however, what Bice wants the reader to conclude.

Where's the paragraph quoting Teuber explaining that a tax lien could indicate malfeasance on the part of the individual?

What's the point of Teuber commenting when he's clueless about Abele's case? It's useless information because we don't know if it applies. It appears to be an effort to provide cover for Abele.

If Jeff Stone failed to pay his taxes and had a lien, would Bice have inserted that cover for him?

According to Bice, tax expert Teuber doesn't support either candidate.

Does that mean he lives outside Milwaukee County and won't be voting in the race for county executive? That's a very likely possibility. Nonetheless, are we to believe that Teuber has no political biases?

Come on.

...Abele's team downplayed the tax lien as part of a years-old legal dispute.

Spokesman Brandon Lorenz said Abele paid off the debt and was never accused of wrongdoing.

"Instead of discussing old events from a decade ago, Chris is focused on his plan to create jobs and bring real change to Milwaukee County government rather than continuing the failed Scott Walker policies that caused these problems in the first place," Lorenz said in an e-mail Wednesday.

This is getting ridiculous.

There's the parking tickets.

There's the OWI, driving with a blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit.

There's the arrest warrant for failure to appear in Municipal Court for 7 YEARS.

There's the fireworks.

There's the warrant for failing to attend the hearing on that matter.

Now, there's the lien for millions in unpaid taxes.

Abele has a lot of skeletons in his closet.

...[Abele] has not paid any state income taxes in at least eight years and federal income taxes in recent years. He has pointed to the fact that he doesn't receive a salary from his family foundation, Argosy, and gives large sums to charity.

But the lien makes clear he owed a lot of federal taxes on income earned in 1999.

Teuber, the tax attorney, said the IRS waits to file a lien until all appeals have been completed.

The larger the amount owed the IRS, Teuber said, the faster federal officials usually file a lien. He said $2.3 million would be considered a significant sum, even if it includes interest and penalties. The figure on the lien is the amount owed on a particular date. The payoff sum may be even higher.

Technically, federal tax collectors can file a tax lien if an individual or company fails to clear a debt 10 days after receiving a demand for payment.

"The IRS thinks of a lien as no big deal," Teuber said.

It is, he said, simply considered a way to guarantee payment of a debt.

"The IRS thinks of a lien as no big deal," Teuber said.

What?

$2.3 million in unpaid taxes is a big deal.

That may be chump change for Abele, but it is a big deal.