Rep. Hart used session to hold off tax man 4 times

BOISE - Idaho state Rep. Phil Hart’s current dispute over back state income taxes isn’t the first time he’s invoked his status as a state legislator to hold off the tax man - Hart has sought delays from the IRS and the state Tax Commission four times in the six years he’s served as a state lawmaker. Hart is currently arguing that he should be able to appeal an order to pay $53,000 in back state income taxes, penalties and interest even though he filed his appeal months after the appeal deadline, because as a state legislator, he’s entitled to extra time when the Legislature is in session. Washington has a very similar legislative privilege clause in its state constitution to the one that Hart cites in Idaho’s constitution, but Hugh Spitzer, who teaches state constitutional law at the University of Washington School of Law, said he hasn’t heard of lawmakers invoking it in similar situations. “The reason for these provisions, which are very common not only in the United States but throughout the world, is to protect elected legislators from harassment by their opponents,” Spitzer said. “It became very important in England in the 17th century … because the kings would try to shut down parliament, arrest members of parliament with whom the king disagreed.” But, he said, “It’s one thing to say the government can’t force you to do something, can’t arrest you, can’t harass you with a new lawsuit, but it’s another thing to say that this somehow frees you up from procedural requirements of litigation in which you are already involved, and that you have a right to an automatic stay.” In Hart’s current case, his 91-day appeal period was within days of running out when he declared that the Legislature would convene its session in 10 days, so he had until spring to file his appeal. The state Tax Commission disagrees and has moved to dismiss his appeal. In 2006, as a newly elected lawmaker with just one session under his belt, Hart came to Boise for a one-day special session called by then-Gov. Jim Risch. While Hart was in the state Capitol, an IRS employee snagged him and served him with a document subpoena. “They just caught me in the building. It was a surprise,” Hart said. “They just handed me some paperwork and it was a summons, and that was that.” He protested, noting the state Constitution’s protection of lawmakers from civil process while in session, and the IRS served him with the same summons again in November during a face-to-face meeting. Hart took that as a sign he’d won on the civil process question. Then, in January of 2008, the Internal Revenue Service mailed a Notice of Deficiency on income taxes to Hart during the first week of the month. “The legislative session commenced January 7 of that year and continued for approximately three months,” according to a letter Hart requested from a Spokane attorney and submitted to bolster his case in his current state income tax appeal. “It appears that you are privileged to argue that the issuance of the NOD was ineffective under the legislative immunity provisions of the Idaho Constitution,” attorney Donald J. Gary Jr. of the firm Winston & Cashatt wrote to Hart in September of 2009. Then, on Hart’s state income tax dispute, the Idaho State Tax Commission issued Hart two notices of deficiency in September of 2008, covering tax years from 1996 to 2004. He protested the decision, and then, on Jan. 15, 2009, sent the state Tax Commission a letter asking to delay his hearing until 30 days after the adjournment of the 2009 legislative session. After being granted a delay to May 15, he sent another letter April 29 asking for another delay; that year’s legislative session ran until May 8. The Tax Commission agreed to another delay, but said the hearing should take place within two weeks of the end of the session. Hart then didn’t contact the commission until June 6, proposing dates in late June or July; the hearing finally was held on July 8, though the commission said he still didn’t provide all the requested documents. He then sent additional materials to the commission in September of 2009, including the letter from the Spokane attorney. Virtually all states’ lawmakers and members of Congress are protected from arrest during legislative sessions, but only some states also add protection from civil process. In Hart’s state tax appeal, both sides are arguing about the definition of “civil process,” among other issues. Spitzer said he doesn’t know how Idaho courts will interpret the issue. “But I must say, it’s facts like these that lead to results that mess up this type of protective provision for everybody else,” he said. “It sounds like he is misusing this privilege for his own purposes, and so he might wind up actually damaging the strength of this protection by misusing it in this fashion.” Hart also has had nearly $300,000 in tax liens filed against him by the IRS in the past year. His tax woes began when he stopped filing state and federal income tax returns while he unsuccessfully pressed a court challenge claiming the income tax was unconstitutional. He said he’s now made payments, but after years of squabbling he feels the IRS has inappropriately disallowed his business exemptions, and claims the agency has done so in retaliation for his refusal to reveal the names of people who bought a book he authored on his views on the unconstitutionality of taxing wages. Hart said if he could settle the business-deductions issue, “I could wrap things up and go on with my life.”