Rep. Hart Seeks To Advance Back Taxes Appeal

The Spokesman-Review reports that Rep. Phil Hart, a Republican from Athol, has already lost four appeals on the issue. Now he is asking the Idaho Supreme Court to consider whether he appealed too late, and whether a lower court was wrong to refuse to delay a hearing while Hart served in the Legislature. Hart stopped filing tax returns in 1996 while he pressed a lawsuit in federal court claiming income taxes are unconstitutional. He lost that case and began filing again but federal and state officials say he hasn't fully paid up. The state tax commission ordered him to pay more than $53,000 in back taxes.