IRS audited Perdue following land deal
Gov. Sonny Perdue survived a "full-blown" IRS audit of his taxes in 2007 over a Florida land deal, the governor's former lawyer -- who is now running for speaker of the House -- said in a letter to House Republicans on Tuesday.
Rep. Larry O'Neal (R-Bonaire) said the investigation led to "zero adjustment to the taxes involved and exonerated me once and for all for any wrongdoing in this matter." But the IRS has no jurisdiction over the ethical questions surrounding the role O'Neal played in passing legislation in 2005 that allowed the governor to claim a $100,000 tax break for the purchase of $2 million of property near Disney World in Florida.
"Larry O'Neal admitted he did it and the consequences of what he did benefited the governor to the tune of $100,000," House Minority Leader DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) said. This "proves what we've been saying, that he has a conflict, that he is part of the same type of corruption that has extended from what else has been revealed."
In his letter to the GOP in advance of today's caucus vote for speaker, O'Neal said the bill reversed a state law that penalized Georgia residents for selling property in the state and using the proceeds to purchase land in other states. Forty-nine other states had already done so, O'Neal said. "Hundreds" of Georgians have benefited from the bill, he said.
The bill as originally written would have applied to any transaction after Jan. 1, 2005. But it was amended in the Senate to retroactively apply to 2004 deals as well. In his letter to his colleagues, O'Neal said he had nothing to do with the change.
But minutes of a 2005 Senate Finance Committee where the change was made directly refute that. Committee records show that on March 22, 2005, O'Neal appeared before the committee asking that the bill be approved but made retroactive to 2004.
The legislation was made retroactive to 2004, the year of Perdue's purchase, a fact that became the subject of an official ethics complaint and millions of dollars of television ads against Perdue in his 2006 re-election bid.
In the years since, O'Neal and Perdue have said very little about the land deal or the controversy it and the tax legislation created. That silence has been filled in recent days by anonymous shots against O'Neal as the race for speaker has heated up. In response, O'Neal wrote House Republicans and said Perdue has given him permission to reveal details of the audit and the bill's aftermath.
O'Neal has not returned multiple phone messages asking for comment. Perdue's spokesman referred a reporter to O'Neal's letter and had no further comment.
