A D.C. Council member who serves on a powerful finance committee is facing a federal lien seeking more than $50,000 in unpaid income taxes — the third city lawmaker to face scrutiny over personal or tax debts in recent months.
The Internal Revenue Service filed the lien against Michael A. Brown, at-large independent, in April citing debts on four years of income taxes dating back to 2004.
Though the IRS does not comment on individual tax cases, the lien filed against Mr. Brown states, "We have made a demand for payment of this liability, but it remains unpaid."
Mr. Brown, a lawyer who won citywide office in 2008, is a member of the council's Committee on Finance and Revenue, which oversees the D.C. Office of the Chief Financial Officer. That city agency is charged with collecting, budgeting and accounting for more than $7 billion each year.
A copy of the lien filed against Mr. Brown at the D.C. Office of the Recorder of Deeds shows tax debts of $7,128.22 for 2004, $28,625.11 for 2005, $5,176.17 for 2007 and $11,951.18 for 2008.
Mr. Brown said he is close to paying off the tax debts. He said he has been on a scheduled installment plan with the IRS for about two years and that he's never missed a payment. He said his last payment is scheduled for August.
"Nothing has been done wrong, zero," he said, adding that his situation is no different from those of millions of Americans working to pay off taxes through installment plans with the IRS.
Mr. Brown said the tax issue surfaced after he took a deduction that the IRS later challenged as taxable income. He said he didn't challenge the agency when it said that the money should have been taxed. He declined to identify the deduction he sought.
He said that his tax debt was recalculated after the IRS notified him that he couldn't take the deduction at issue. He said his payments to close out the debt are "totally under control."
Mr. Brown is the second council member to face a federal tax lien in recent months. In February, the IRS filed a lien against former Mayor Marion Barry, Ward 8 Democrat, citing more than $15,000 in unpaid income taxes from 2005 to 2008.
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