ATLANTA — In the race for Georgia's next governor, it's a back-and-forth on the issue of personal responsibility that won't go away.
Republican candidate Brian Kemp accuses Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams of not paying her back taxes to the IRS.
Abrams still insists she is paying them, while Kemp fights a claim he owes someone a half million dollars.
Kemp repeated that claim against Abrams again on Wednesday, telling reporters he is not personally responsible for the $500,000 loan to a company in which he is an investor, even though documents show he personally guaranteed the loan. Instead, he deflected, calling his own finances "old news" while pointing to Abrams' $54,000 in back taxes to the IRS.
“I think the left continues to push you guys to come cover [the loan], to distract from Stacey Abrams having debts, as well, like to the IRS, that she’s not paying,” Kemp asserted.
Abrams thought she had put that criticism to rest, repeatedly.
Earlier this month, for example, she explained, again, that family emergencies put her behind on her taxes.
“I could not defer my family’s needs. I could defer paying my taxes, and I am paying them. The IRS and I are in good standing,” she said. “The IRS and I, we have an agreement, I’m on a payment plan.”
And according to the IRS, Abrams is one of millions of U.S. taxpayers currently on installment plans to pay their back taxes. But it's often at a cost, said Assistant Professor of Accounting Usha Rackliffe, from Emory’s Goizueta School of Business.
“You have to pay the interest, and oftentimes there are penalties as appropriate," Rackliffe explained. "So, it’s not as though you’re getting something, you’re not getting an advantage.”
A Republican PAC continues to run an attack ad accusing Abrams of spending money on herself instead of settling her IRS debt. But again, Abrams said repeatedly she is paying her tax bill. Rackliffe said that what Abrams is doing is all within the law - Abrams can spend money on her own campaign while repaying her IRS debt.
“From a legal standpoint, there’s nothing that says that just because you owe money to the IRS, and you’ve come up with a payment plan,” Rackliffe explained, “there’s nothing that precludes you from doing anything else. Life has to go on afterwards.”
11Alive asked the Abrams campaign if they would provide documentation of Abrams' IRS payment plan and whether she is current on her payments. The campaign has not, yet, provided that documentation.
Meanwhile, Kemp continues to try to settle the long-running dispute over whether he personally owes a creditor a half-million dollars.
FULL COVERAGE | Georgia Votes 2018
