Tuesday, October 28, 2008

ACORN owes millions in taxes

Townhall.com is reporting that ACORN owes millions in taxes and has numerous liens as a result. Tell me again why this organization gets federal funds?????

"An intrepid researcher has discovered more than 200 tax liens totaling more than $3.7 million have been filed by the government against the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now for unpaid taxes since the late eighties.

A tax lien is issued when a person or organization fails to pay taxes and that tax debt is considered seriously delinquent. A lien is only issued after the government makes several unsuccessful attempts to collect the debt.

The conservative-leaning Capital Research Center’s Matthew Vadum found a staggering number of liens listed against ACORN’s national headquarters at 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana while conducting an exhaustive investigation of ACORN's history and current activities.

“I took that address and plugged it into Nexis and did a public records search for tax liens,” Vadum said. “At least 230 tax liens corresponded to ACORN’s address and they were all from ACORN’s shadowy network of affiliates.”

The liens filed against ACORN and their associated groups come from the Internal Revenue Service and government officials in fifteen different states.

75 of the 230 tax liens appear to have been “released,” meaning the full debt was paid or a negotiated payment was made for the debt. The rest are outstanding. "

5 comments:

Mad Jack said...

I don't put too much emphasis on this. Anyone can run afoul of the IRS, and when that happens the rest of your life can be finished, financially speaking. You'll never have anything. In the case of a business or NPO, business can be made to stop, now and forever after. Even vice presidents aren't immune to the IRS (Spiro T., anyone?).

That's not to say ACORN has some kind of sterling reputation. It's just that any accusation or problem involving the IRS is more likely victimization by the government rather than serious wrongdoing.

Maggie said...

MadJack - it's so much that they've got millions in liens - it's that they continue to get funds from the federal government IN SPITE of owing it (us) money.

In both Toledo and Lucas County, you don't get public grants or contracts if you're not current on your taxes. Why should the federal government be any different?

Why should our tax dollars being going to ANY organization that isn't current on its own tax bills?

That's the issue, imho.

Timothy W Higgins said...

Maggie,

MadJack is correct that anyone can run afoul of the IRS. Having 155 liens however would rank a little above the level of running afoul.

One also have to ask about the nature of these liens with the IRS, as ACORN is a non-profit organization. How can such a tax debt be compiled by such an organization?

Roman said...

I seem to remember a tradesman, a plumber, I believe who had a rather small tax lien. It was researched and then reported with nearly light speed. I wonder why these ACORN liens took so long to come to light. Has any one seen this reported in the dinosaur media?

Mad Jack said...

Why should our tax dollars being going to ANY organization that isn't current on its own tax bills?

Is this a trick question? No? Well, I would suppose it's because the Federal government is made up of elected officials, more than a few of whom are moonbats, complete with the official thermos, lunchbox and secret handshake.

Seriously, I don't know why ACORN would get any government funding at all. The organization is engaged in voter fraud, and I don't see that ACORN ever did anything to help the United States.

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