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NEW TV AD: AR Farmer Discusses Hutchinson's Tax Cheating

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Jobs and Opportunity, an organization affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association, today released a new television ad highlighting how Congressman Asa Hutchinson cheated on his taxes to help himself by illegally taking tax credits on multiple homes. The spot, “Priorities,” features Mike Freeze, a hard-working farmer who correctly notes “that’s not how we do things in Arkansas, and we’d like to keep it that way.”
“Congressman Hutchinson knew what he was doing when he illegally took tax credits on his multiple homes and then lied about it when he got caught,” said Jobs and Opportunity spokesman Danny Kanner. “Lying and cheating on taxes might be how the lobbyists like Hutchinson play the game in Washington, but it shows just how out of touch he is with Arkansas values. Hard-working families deserve public officials who abide by the rules they do, and that’s not what Asa Hutchinson did.”
Watch the ad here: http://youtu.be/ZkhaQU2McvA
AD BACKUP: 

VISUAL AUDIO  
MIKE FREEZE
Keo, Arkansas
 
Asa Hutchinson
OPPOSED
TAX RELIEF FOR
ARKANSAS
FAMILIES
 
CQ
ROLL CALL
2001
Here in Arkansas, farmers work hard for every penny they earn, and you know elected officials need to understand that.
 
But Asa Hutchinson doesn’t get it.  He opposed tax relief that could’ve helped you…
Asa Hutchinson, on May 2, 2001, voted against the Neal amendment to H.R.10, which was an amendment to add provisions to H.R.10 to give “refundable tax credits up to
$1,000 annually to low- and middle-income employees who contribute to IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement pension plans including 401(k) plans.”  The amendment also would have allowed “a three-year tax credit for small employers of 50 percent of the costs incurred in establishing such pension plans” and would have offered “them a 50 percent credit for certain employer contributions to retirement plans on behalf of non-highly paid workers.”
(CQ Vote Summary of House of Representatives Vote 94,
2001)
     
CHEATING ON PROPERTY TAXES
FOR FOUR YEARS
———-
ARKANSAS TIMES 7/30/14
 
Hutchinson improperly
took tax credit on 2 homes
-AP 7/27/14
 
 
Asa Hutchinson
“NEVER
CLAIMED”
THE ADDITIONAL
TAX CREDITS
———-
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
7/29/14
 
CALL ASA HUTCHINSON
(501) 223-9990, AND TELL HIM TO
TELL THE TRUTH
ABOUT HIS TAXES
 
PAID FOR BY JOBS AND OPPORTUNITY
But then cheated on his own taxes to help himself.  Pocketing illegal credits on multiple homes.  And when it came out he didn’t tell the truth, even though he had signed the applications himself.
 
Let me tell you something.  That’s not how we do things in Arkansas, and we’d like to keep it that way.
According to an Associated Press story with the headline, “Hutchinson improperly took tax credit on 2 homes,” Joe Thompson, the chief assessment administrator for Pulaski County, said Asa “Hutchinson claimed the $350 per year [homestead tax] credit for homes in Benton and Pulaski counties in the tax years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011,” even though “state law allows the credit on only one home.”
 
“Hutchinson had a homestead credit on a home in Bella Vista” in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and “a credit on a home in Rogers” in 2011, “according to the Benton County assessor’s office,” while also taking a homestead tax credit on a residence in Pulaski County in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011.  (Associated Press State & Local Wire, 07/27/14)
 
Asa Hutchinson, after this story was reported in the media, said “that he ‘never claimed’ a homestead credit in Pulaski County, and ‘it was assigned to me,’ without his knowledge.”  (Arkansas Times, 07/27/14)
 
“Hutchinson initially said…that he ‘never claimed’ the credit.  After being faxed a copy of a Pulaski County homestead credit application dated March 2, 2007, and signed by him, he said he was surprised to learn that he applied for the credit.”  (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 07/29/14)
 
“Enough is on the record to let everyone decide how much blame to lay on Republican gubernatorial candidate
Asa Hutchinson for cheating on property taxes for four years.”  (Arkansas Times, 07/30/14)

 

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