IRS says Hillsborough power broker Ralph Hughes owed not $69 million in back taxes, but $300 million
July 31, 2009 at 10:41 am by Wayne Garcia
The late Ralph Hughes, shown with state Sen. Ronda Storms in 2006 at a Plant City Republican event.
The Tampa Tribune is reporting that a new court filing by the Internal Revenue Service has more than quadrupled the amount of money it says it is owed by the estate of the late Ralph Hughes, a powerful anti-tax power broker in Hillsborough County.
From the Trib story:
Before he died last year, conservative powerbroker Ralph Hughes fraudulently took millions of dollars of his companies’ assets, leaving the businesses insolvent and owing nearly $300 million to the IRS, the federal government says in a new court filing.
Earlier this month, Hillsborough County Commissioners voted to remove Hughes’ name from the county’s Moral Courage Award. Hughes’ family asked that his name be taken off the award after The Tampa Tribune and TBO.com revealed the Internal Revenue Service claim that Hughes died owing more than $69 million in federal taxes.
Hughes’ family has disputed the IRS charges, saying he paid millions in taxes and would not avoid his responsibilities to the government.
That breaks down to “$128 million in back taxes, $117 million in penalties and $54 million in interest.”
