Rangel Mails Tax Tips to Constituents

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who has temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee amid ethics investigations of unpaid taxes and other matters, is now facing criticism for a recent mailing to constituents offering tax advice.

“Hopefully, the information in this guide can help put money back into your pockets,” wrote the 20-term congressman in a full-color glossy mailing, according to the New York Daily News. Rangel's office has traditionally mailed an annual tax newsletter to his Harlem constituents to assist them with filing their taxes and claiming tax breaks such as the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Rangel stepped aside earlier this month after the House Committee on Standards and Conduct admonished him for violating ethics rules for not fully disclosing the names of companies that paid for him to attend conferences they sponsored in the Caribbean (see Rangel Steps Down as Ways and Means Chair).

He has also been under investigation for a variety of other matters in the past year, including initially overlooking $75,000 in taxes on rental income for a vacation property he owns in the Dominican Republic. Rangel eventually hired forensic accounting firm Watkins Meegan to help him deal with his tax issues.

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