This story was reported and written in collaboration with The Georgia News Lab, an investigative reporting partnership among Georgia’s leading journalism programs, the AJC and Channel 2 Action News. Lindsey Conway, a News Lab student, is a junior at the University of Georgia.
A state legislator from Gwinnett County owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Internal Revenue Service — a debt her political opponent says should give voters pause.
The IRS has filed at least $526,494 in liens against state Rep. Joyce Chandler, R-Grayson, and her husband, Martin Chandler. The couple’s debt — comprised of personal income taxes — stretches back more than a decade, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Georgia News Lab found.
Chandler and her husband deny they owe as much as the IRS says. Nonetheless, they say they’re making payments on the debt, even as they challenge it.
That’s significant because a 2002 amendment to the Georgia constitution bars tax defaulters from public office unless they are actively paying off what’s owed.
Chandler says her tax problems are nothing her constituents should worry about.
“I wouldn’t say that we’re having financial troubles,” she said. “We still have our income. It doesn’t affect our lifestyle. It’s just a separate issue.”
Her Democratic opponent in this year’s election, Donna McLeod, questioned Chandler’s motive for running for office.
“I think some people think it’s a way to make money for themselves,” McLeod said. “With that kind of debt, I would question her motives for wanting to do this job.”
The Georgia News Lab is a journalism program in investigative reporting supported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News. For weeks students in the program have been reviewing tax liens filed against elected officials.
A student in the program traced more than 30 liens filed against Joyce and Martin Chandler. The liens — filed in Gwinnett and Cherokee counties in Georgia and Walton County, Fla. — were for taxes owed as far back as 1999.
Most recently, in July the IRS filed a lien against the couple for $519,085 in Cherokee and Gwinnett counties. It filed a separate lien for $6,612 against Joyce Chandler and $805 against Martin Chandler in Cherokee County in February.
The couple appears to have made payments to satisfy the debt on some liens, while others appear to be outstanding. Martin Chandler said the most recent liens include the total debt the IRS says they owe, and they are both making payments.
A spokesman for the IRS said the agency cannot comment on individual taxpayer issues.
Expert: couple likely not cooperating with IRS
Jack Fishman, a tax attorney and former IRS investigator who reviewed the liens for the AJC, said it’s difficult to tell how much the couple owes. But he noted that many liens have been converted from 10-year liens to 20-year liens — an unusual IRS tactic.
“It’s usually indicative of a person who’s not cooperating with the IRS,” he said.
Martin Chandler, an accountant, said he believes the debt stems in part from his defiance of an IRS summons to produce financial records for clients during a criminal investigation in 2006. Court records show a federal judge ordered Chandler to turn over the documents, but he refused.
The judge ordered Chandler’s arrest, and he spent about a week in federal detention, records show. Ultimately, he provided the records.
Martin Chandler said the IRS later examined a property swap the couple was involved with. He said he did not remember the details of the swap, but the debt stems from the transaction.
He said the couple is no longer negotiating with the IRS, but plans to challenge the returns and may even get a refund.
“I’m confident we’re going to get it resolved right away,” he said. Still, Chandler indicated that he remains bitter about his feud with tax collectors.
“Do you understand the IRS is totally corrupt?” he said. “Do you understand they’re not an agency of the United States government?”
Chandler: ‘I have…stayed out of it’
Joyce Chandler is a retired school counselor first elected to the General Assembly four years ago. She represents House District 105, one of the most competitive in the state. She won with just 51 percent of the vote in 2012 and won re-election two years ago with 53 percent.
This year Chandler’s fellow Republicans have poured money into her campaign, supporting her 2016 re-election bid with at least $86,250 in donations, according to campaign finance reports.
Joyce Chandler said she is not familiar with the details of the IRS debt, including how much they owe. Martin Chandler told Atlanta Unfiltered, an investigative news source that reported on the Chandlers’ liens Oct. 20, that his wife was not involved in the deals that led to their tax problems.
Nonetheless, Joyce Chandler said she’s concerned that publicity about the debt could make it more difficult to resolve.
“I have basically just stayed out of it,” she said. “I have been assured that it is still something that should be something we can work out.”
“We pay taxes on every cent we earn,” Chandler added. “We anticipate this being worked out with the IRS very soon.”
William Perry, executive director of Georgia Ethics Watchdogs, said tax liens against legislators are not a huge concern. He said they are citizens balancing their legislative jobs with their normal lives and are “entitled to a mistake or two.”
But he said Chandler’s liens are troublesome.
“It’s a concern that there are numerous liens over periods of years adding up to that much money,” he said. “That’s a lot of money.”
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