The Washington Free Beacon has uncovered evidence that a Democratic congressman has been lying about where he lives to avoid paying taxes.
Rep. T.J. Cox (D-CA) claimed that a second home in Maryland was actually his primary residence when he sold the property, according to an article published on Thursday.
The Beacon reports that Cox purchased the house located in Bethesda for over a million dollars in 2016 for his wife, who was studying at nearby Johns Hopkins University.
Maryland law requires nonresidents who are claiming a home as their primary residence to live at the property for at least two of the previous five years.
Yet, the Beacon reports, “according to his campaign, Cox never lived in the home himself, and his wife moved back to California just one year after purchasing the property, meaning the Democrat could not have met the state’s requirement.”
“Cox’s declaration was made under penalty of perjury when he sold the home in November 2019,” the piece goes on to say. “The claim allowed him to avoid a nearly $90 thousand tax withholding levied on property sales made by nonresidents in Maryland. Cox sold the home for $1.12 million after reporting between $80,000 and $200,000 in rental income from the property between 2017 and 2019.”
Cox has faced multiple tax liens
The Beacon noted that this is not Cox’s first controversy when it comes to paying taxes, with the IRS having filed liens against the lawmaker this past January for allegedly failing to pay income taxes in 2016 and 2017.
What’s more, the paper reports that the state of California has imposed a lien on Cox as well, this time for failure to pay $30,000 in taxes from 2017.
Curiously, records from the Federal Elections Commission show that the congressman loaned his campaign $250,000 over the course of 2017 and 2018 — the same period during which he was allegedly failing to pay his taxes.
The Beacon also reported that Cox was among those in March who voted against a bill requiring members of Congress to disclose whether they are the subject of a tax lien.
Cox denies unpaid taxes
Cox, who is running for re-election in November, did not immediately respond to the Beacon’s request for comment. However, he has denied allegations of unpaid taxes, telling The Washington Examiner: “All they have are lies. None of it is truth. But as the good Lord says, ‘Love those who hate you and those who attack you.”
“As everyone knows, my tax liability is zero,” he added.
The post Report: California Dem caught lying about second home to avoid taxes first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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