Democrat Vicente Gonzalez, the U.S. Representative for Texas' 15th Congressional District, voted with every other member of his party to pass the falsely named "Inflation Reduction Act" earlier in August. In addition to not addressing inflation at all, the legislation that has since been signed into law by President Joe Biden — during a brief stop at the White House during his two-week South Carolina and Delaware beach vacation — also included significant taxpayer spending on the IRS and higher taxes for Americans.
But Rep. Gonzalez might not want to have an extra 80K-plus IRS agents trawling through Americans' finances, especially his own.
That's because, according to new reporting in The Texas Tribune, Gonzalez and his wife "ran afoul of property tax law for at least eight years as each claimed homestead exemptions on properties they separately owned." Whoops? Here's how The Tribune explained the alleged "simple oversight" that saw Rep. Gonzalez claim thousands of dollars in undeserved tax breaks:
They fixed the issue last year, when his wife, Lorena Saenz Gonzalez, removed the homestead exemption on her property. But from 2014 to 2021, Hidalgo County records show that Vicente Gonzalez was claiming a homestead exemption on a property in McAllen valued this year at $527,054, while his wife was also claiming one on another property in the city valued this year at $287,131. That saved them at least $2,300 in property taxes on the second property, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.
In Texas, married couples generally can claim only one such exemption, which is meant to provide some tax relief on properties considered “principal residences.” Homestead exemptions cannot typically be claimed on commercial properties, second homes or income properties.
Gonzalez said the second property is one that his wife owned prior to their marriage in 2008 and that she forgot to remove the homestead exemption on it until last year.
”It was a simple oversight that was voluntarily corrected as soon as she found out,” Gonzalez said in a statement.
After the Tribune inquired, Gonzalez spokesperson James Rivera said the congressman has spoken with the county appraiser’s office and intends to pay any back taxes that are owed.
How convenient that the "simple oversight" was noticed after *eight years* and, after almost a decade of underpaying taxes, the Democrat representative facing reelection in roughly eleven weeks only said he'd repay the taxes owed from eight years of fraudulent returns after the media started asking questions.
Not to mention Gonzalez, who apparently got away with the improper filings for eight years due to "simple oversight," wants to add tens of thousands of new IRS agents going after Americans whether they are committing the same kind of accidental tax errors or not.
Not for nothing, Gonzalez is a lawyer by trade and should know the law. And, according to The Tribune, the application for the homestead exemption he and his wife both claimed is clear that such a tax break can only be utilized if "you and your spouse do not claim a residence homestead exemption on any other property."
Those who make a false statement — that is, claim a homestead exemption in violation of the provision's conditions by doing so on more than one property — "could be found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor or a state jail felony."
Gonzalez, due to redistricting, will be on the ballot in Texas' 34th Congressional District against incumbent GOP Rep. Mayra Flores who won the seat in a special election — the first Republican to win in the border district in decades.
New: U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez and his wife defied property tax law for at least eight years as each claimed homestead exemptions on properties they separately owned. https://t.co/eODZON0MS4
— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) August 19, 2022
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