The Rev. Al Sharpton is without doubt one of the most prominent activists of our times. But it appears that during Sharpton’s rise to the top, he amassed some hefty debt by way of unpaid taxes and other outstanding bills.
The New York Times investigate the matter, discovering Sharpton had over $4.5 million in tax liens against his businesses and himself. Additionally, the Times also found his National Action Network owed $1.1 in overdue payroll taxes for employees. The list of outstanding balances didn’t end there as hotels and landlords also made similar claims.
More from the Times:
Mr. Sharpton has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent and other bills. Records reviewed by The New York Times show more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses.
And though he said in recent interviews that he was paying both down, his balance with the state, at least, has actually grown in recent years. His National Action Network appears to have been sustained for years by not paying federal payroll taxes on its employees.
With the tax liability outstanding, Mr. Sharpton traveled first class and collected a sizable salary, the kind of practice by nonprofit groups that the United States Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration recently characterized as “abusive,” or “potentially criminal” if the failure to turn over or collect taxes is willful.
Sharpton told the Times that he is working on paying off the taxes and his outstanding balances are lower than they appear. Sharpton’s former top aide is in hot water with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, and her recent troubles could point to how National Action Network was able to allegedly game the system,
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Photo: WENN
