Tea Party candidate for KS House finally pays taxes - delinquent for 9 years

[proud2BlibKansan]

A Wichita restaurateur seeking the District 96 seat in the Kansas House of Representatives has paid off nine years of delinquent state and local taxes, officials confirmed Thursday.

Craig Gabel, who owns Mike’s Steak House, paid $126,687.32 in delinquent real and personal property taxes and penalties in June, according to Sedgwick County Treasurer Linda Kizzire. The delinquent tax bill dated back to 2003, when Gabel said a divorce and resulting bankruptcy filing made it impossible for him to keep up with his taxes.

And on Dec. 22, he paid off a $7,637.98 Kansas Department of Revenue warrant for income taxes for 2001 through 2006.

“I knew this was going to come up,” Gabel said last week, when he announced his intention to get his taxes current.

Gabel is president of Kansans for Liberty, a conservative political group, and is the chief spokesman for the local tea party movement. He regularly appears before the Wichita City Council to protest business-development subsidies and condemnations of substandard homes. He was one of the driving forces behind the successful petition drive to challenge an estimated $2.25 million guest-tax subsidy for the Ambassador Hotel, a planned boutique hotel downtown.

Gabel said the delinquent tax bill mounted because of legal problems, including a divorce and subsequent bankruptcy.


Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/05/3691914/kansas-house-candidate-craig-gabel.html#storylink=cpy

[jberryhill]

1. So? He paid up

His politics aside, it is not at all unusual for a self employed person to encounter circumstances where they run into a tax problem that can take a while to get over, especially if a divorce is involved.

If he's paid up, he's paid up.

[DCKit]

4. While I agree with your sentiment, where did he suddenly find $126K?

I doubt many of us could pull that kind of cash out of our asses if we had to. There's more to this story., and I'll bet it's spelled "Koch".

Unlimited campaign donations are one thing - it's the law now - but is paying personal bills with campaign contributions legal? If it is, I'm going to become a perpetual candidate, starting tomorrow.

[jberryhill]

6. I eventually had to take a large loan

Stories like this convince me that I would never want to run for anything. I carried a large tax liability for a number of years, also due in part to a divorce, and eventually took out a loan on terms that were better than the accumulated penalties. But, yeah, if I ran for office, it would be the first thing dug up and used as some sort of personal attack - OMG he paid off a tax liability!

[DCKit]

10. I respect your personal experience, and I agree with the potential for a personal attack.

But if it turns out this guy is Koch funded, you're going to be embarrassed. I will never again revisit this post. I'm trying really hard to be a better person, and I'll slap myself if I ever have occasion to say "I told you so" to family or anyone on DU.

First off, he's a Republican, and they're deadbeats. Secondly, that cash appeared just when he was running for office. I would have to sell my apartment and everything I own to "suddenly" come up with $126K.

It's fishy. That's all I'm saying.

[jberryhill]

11. "if it turns out this guy is Koch funded, you're going to be embarrassed"

Uh, why would I be embarrassed?

You can't have someone just pay off your taxes for you, without creating additional problems with having to pay tax on either the constructive receipt of that income used to pay off the taxes, or the direct receipt of the income you use to pay off the amount. The IRS is not that stupid.

All you know is that the guy had a tax liability, and obviously made some arrangement with someone to pay it off. That's what people do.

Simply guessing, in a state of total ignorance, that he did something untoward in order to pay off his taxes, and being proved correct later on is not even an occasion for an "I told you so" any more than correctly guessing the outcome of a coin flip.

You do not know how he paid it off, but because you don't like the guy, then you conclude it must have been something shady.

Absolutely, he may have obtained a favorable loan from a political supporter. So what?

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. I can't imagine the Kochs giving a state rep candidate that much money to pay off his taxes

Even for them that's a stretch.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Explain why have not paying real estate taxes for 9 years, his property

wasn't auctioned off at a delinquent tax sale?

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Which would have happened to anyone else

I don't get that part.

[jberryhill]

7. Most places will file liens until the total hits a threshold

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. In my county they take your property after 3 years of unpaid property taxes

[sinkingfeeling]

9. Not here. They have 2 years to pay or it goes to auction, where they can

pay and reclaim the property for 30 days after its 'sold'.

[Overseas]

3. K&R.

[ellenfl]

12. he declared bankruptcy? isn't that against his principles? not to mention divorce. eom