Sullivan Won't Answer Income Tax Questions - Senator Mark Begich :: As Independent As Alaska | Senator Mark Begich

Sullivan Won’t Answer Income Tax Questions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 09/17/2014
CONTACT: Max Croes — 907-570-2065

ANCHORAGE — Amid an ongoing tax investigation into tax breaks U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan received on his million-dollar home in Maryland while working as a political appointee in the State Department, Sullivan is declining to share where he filed his federal income tax in 2007 and 2008.

During the time in question, Sullivan declared his million-dollar home in Maryland his “principal residence“ while voting in Alaska and collecting tax breaks on the home.

“Dan Sullivan needs to look Alaskans in the eye and be honest. Sullivan’s refusal to answer a simple question about where he filed his income tax while living in Maryland but voting in Alaska feeds his ever-changing stories about his residency,” said Susanne Fleek-Green, Campaign Manager for Alaskans forBegich.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner interviewed Maryland tax assessment director Robert Young, who is quoted as saying:

“And if you sign this application, you’re doing so under the penalty of perjury….The department’s auditors first look at federal income tax filings to determine a person’s state of residency, and voting records could be a factor,” Young said.

“A key factor, Young added, would be the location where Sullivan filed his federal income tax return during the years in question. Asked where Sullivan had filed his returns in 2006 through 2008, Anderson said he could not immediately answer Friday.”

Sullivan has made five differing declarations about his residency since 2009 including a claim of 17 years of continuous Alaska residency. In private communications Sullivan has acknowledged that he did not live in Alaska between 2002 and 2009. He affirmed his Outside residency with a 2009 fishing license on which Sullivan self-identified as a non-resident. Sullivan also touted his “Outsider” status in an email to Mead Treadwell when he was seeking a political appointment under the Palin Administration

The News-Miner and Alaska Public Radio Network reported that when the Sullivans bought the Maryland house in 2006, he and his wife, Julie, signed a sworn statement — under penalty of perjury — that the home would be their principal residence.