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September 3, 2010

Deal releases cover pages for tax returns

SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA — Republican gubernatorial nominee Nathan Deal late Thursday released cover pages for 29 years of personal income tax returns, spanning his time in elected office.

But he declined to make public filings for his Gainesville auto salvage business that became the focus of a congressional ethics probe. And tax “schedules” — that would provide more details on things like capital gains and rental income — were not included in the documents the Deal campaign posted online Thursday night.

Deal spokesman Brian Robinson declined to explain why.

“With these tax forms, combined with 18 years of financial disclosures, Nathan Deal provided a full financial picture as it relates to Nathan Deal,” Robinson said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

The cover pages show Deal and his wife, Sandra, earned $229,123 in 2009. They paid $36,087 in taxes for that year and received a refund of $10,688.

Tax returns have emerged as an issue as the race to become Georgia’s next governor heats up.

Deal’s Democratic rival Roy Barnes has been pressuring the former congressman to take the wraps off his taxes for several weeks. Barnes — who in May made public 25 years of his tax returns — has hammered Deal with television ads, suggesting Deal’s refusal to let the public look at his taxes meant he had something to hide.

“I’m not going to let Mr. Barnes dictate how I run my campaign,” Deal fired back at a campaign forum over the weekend.

The Barnes campaign argued on Thursday that Deal was still not providing a full look at his finances and was making “a mockery of transparency.”

“By releasing only the cover pages of his returns Rep. Deal is hiding more than he’s disclosed,” Barnes spokesman Emil Runge said.

Deal faced questions about his taxes as part of a congressional ethics probe.

A report released earlier this year by the Office of Congressional Ethics alleged Deal reported $75,000 in wages from his Gainesville auto salvage company on his 2008 tax return, while reporting the same amount as dividend income on his financial disclosure filed with the U.S. House.

If the amount had been reported as wages on his congressional disclosure, Deal would have been in violation of a congressional cap on outside income. The cap in 2008 was $25,830 beyond a representative’s annual salary of $174,000.

Deal resigned from Congress in March before the Office of Congressional Ethics issued its findings and before the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct decided whether to take up the matter. Deal was never fined or charged. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Classifying the money as earned income was a mistake made by Deal’s accountants on the tax forms, Robinson said. He said the mistake covered returns filed for 2006, 2007 and 2008.

The tax forms posted online for those years on Thursday are the amended returns, Robinson said. The original returns were not provided.

The cover pages show that Deal’s income has climbed steadily over the years. In 1981, the Deals reported $44,519 in income.

Deal listed his net worth at $2 million on a disclosure he filed earlier this year to run for governor.

Deal was elected to the state Senate in 1980 and served there until his election to the U.S. House in 1992.

The practice of providing tax returns has become common in recent gubernatorial campaigns. Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue and his Democratic challenger, then-Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, offered them up for inspection in 2006.

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Online

Nathan Deal for Governor: www.nathandeal.org

 

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