Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is a tax warrior. Since her first run for Congress in 2018, she has advocated for high taxes and wants rich people’s “fair share” to the IRS.
AOC still owes New York taxes on a business she ran until 2016 and earned $174,000 as a member of Congress. The tax bill, $1,618 in 2017, has increased 52% to $2,461.
AOC initially claimed that she first heard about the tax bill after she was sworn in. A squad member said she would pay the bill to the New York Post, but her office later stated that the tax bill was an error.
Washington Examiner:
It is not clear if Ocasio Cortez is still arguing the tax bill or if her former business intends to pay the state what it owes.
Ocasio Cortez’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Ocasio-Cortez appears to have the funds to pay her outstanding business taxes. In her three first years in Congress, Ocasio-Cortez has earned a total of $522,000 in her congressional salary before taxes.
AOC is a very capable speaker. To denounce people who don’t pay enough taxes, she has used anti-capitalist incendiary rhetoric loudly and persistently.
But, can she actually walk the talk?
Ocasio-Cortez, one of her first moves in Congress, called for a 70% tax rate for high-income earners to help fund her Green New Deal climate policy proposal.
Her appearance at the Met Gala in September 2021 in a white gown with bold red text emblazoned “Tax the Rich”, was also a major news story.
Aurora James, the woman who designed the gown, is not unfamiliar with New York state tax warrants. James’s company was issued 15 state tax warrants in 2015 after it failed to withhold income taxes from nearly $15,000 of its employees.
Maybe we are being too harsh on the congresswoman. It’s not uncommon for almost everyone to run into the taxman at one time or another in their lives. Perhaps we should let AOC off the hook and allow our miserly sister to go free.
Nah.
