IRS: FL Rep Darryl Rouson, wife owe more than $157K in income taxes-connected to Navy Scam too. [View all]
IRS: Darryl Rouson, wife owe more than $157K in income taxes
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/darryl-rouson-wife-owe-irs-more-than-155k-in-back-income-taxes/2144879
Rep. Darryl Rouson was recently ousted as incoming top Democrat.
State Rep. Darryl Rouson and his wife failed to pay more than $157,000 in federal income taxes from 2008 through 2010, according to a lien filed by the Internal Revenue Service.
In one of those years, Rouson, a St. Petersburg attorney, made $565,000 working for the powerhouse law firm of Morgan & Morgan.
The IRS lien is the latest trouble for Rouson, who recently came under fire from fellow House Democrats for creating a party-related fundraising committee only he could control. His colleagues ousted him as incoming Democratic leader on Sept. 23, the day before the IRS filed its lien in Pinellas County circuit court.
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"I don't take this lightly,'' Rouson said Tuesday. "I am working with my CPA and my tax attorney, and I'm very optimistic this will all get resolved. "It's been a tough summer.''
The lien shows that Rouson and wife Angela, a Juvenile Welfare Board and Pinellas County Housing Authority board member, owe the IRS a total of $157,841 for 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Rouson earned $565,000 at Morgan & Morgan in 2010, according to a required financial disclosure statement.
Employers typically withhold a portion of salary to cover federal income taxes. Rouson would not say whether taxes were withheld from his pay. His former boss, John Morgan, did not return a call seeking comment.
Morgan, a leading Democratic booster and fundraiser, hired Rouson after he was elected to the House in 2008.
But Rouson, a self-described onetime crack addict, lost the job last spring after opposing Morgan's drive to legalize medical marijuana in Florida.
Morgan also complained that Rouson was spending too much time on legislative matters.
Rouson, 58, has a history of financial problems going back more than a decade when he declared bankruptcy while owing $360,000 to the IRS. He was still in bankruptcy proceedings when he and his wife borrowed money to build a 4,400-square-foot St. Petersburg home. Rouson recently reopened his St. Petersburg law practice, which he said is growing.
"My income saw a large decrease after leaving my former firm, and I am redirecting my focus and priorities,'' he said. "God has a way of doing that and giving us challenges that make us better people.''
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Susan Taylor Martin can be contacted at susan@tampabay.com.
IRS: Darryl Rouson, wife owe more than $157K in income taxes 10/01/13 [Last modified: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 12:18am]
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