GOP Tries to Keep Candidates Non-Tax Paying Past From Public

MADISON, Wis. — One Wisconsin Now has learned that Republicans are attempting to keep information about GOP candidates not paying taxes from being made available to the public prior to Tuesday’s election.

Scot Ross, Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now, commented, “Instead of paying taxes, and paying them on time, like other hard working Wisconsinites, flailing Republican candidates are deploying party bosses and heavy handed tactics to try to keep their tax records secret.”

Based on public information obtained from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, One Wisconsin Now discovered a number of Republicans or businesses they own have either not paid state income or other taxes on time or at all including:

• State Assembly candidate Nancy Vandermeer paid nothing in personal state income taxes in 2011, 2008, 2004 and 2002 and her business, Vandermeer Motor Company, has paid nothing in state income taxes for ten straight years, 2002 through 2011;
• State Assembly candidate Mary Czaja paid no state income taxes in 2010, 2008, 2007 or 2004; and
• State Representative Scott Krug paid no state income tax in either 2009 or 2010.

• In addition, One Wisconsin Now discovered:

• State Representative Tom Tiffany paid no state income tax in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 or 2010, and his businesses have paid nothing since 2001 and 2008 respectively; and
• State Senate candidate John Macco failed to pay his property taxes on time for tax years 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008 and in January 2000 the state Department of Revenue was forced to file a tax warrant against him for delinquent income taxes from tax year 1998. Macco did not pay the state income tax he owed until June of 2000, over one year after the date they were due.

Ross concluded, “These people have all voted for or endorsed policies that give massive tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations while increasing taxes on seniors and working families. Their tax records are a legitimate topic of debate, and heavy-handed attempts to hide them from the public are as bad as not paying them.”