Most of what you've read online about IRS problems is wrong, or at least misleading. I'm Darrin Mish. I practice tax law in Tampa and I've been doing this for 32 years. Here's what's actually true.<\/p>\n
A complaint has been lodged by an anonymous person to the IRS over the exorbitant spending of State Rep. and former House speaker Ray Sansom (R \u2013 Destin) using the credit card issued by the Republican party.\u00a0 These expenses had little to do with party matters and included flight fares to Europe for his family using party funds which he did not declare as income.\u00a0 The complaint, made public to the Herald\/Times also allege that Sansom had violated tax<\/a> laws by doing so and also suggested the IRS investigate other officials in the Republican party.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Some of his expenses include $839 at Starbucks and $9,000 worth of flowers besides expenses for items at Cole Haan, Coach and Kenneth Cole, all part of about $170,000 he spent over 2 years that he oversaw the House election efforts.\u00a0 Understandably, these expenses have infuriated some political donors to the Republican party.<\/p>\n The complaint has drawn frantic reassurances from the Florida Republican party that they are doing the necessary to curb such abuses.\u00a0 Party chairman Jim Greer held a gathering in Orlando last Saturday in which he told the crowd that all party-issued credit cards will be withdrawn from party officials and went to the extent of cutting up his own credit card in front of the audience.\u00a0 However, calls for him to reveal the spending of other officials were declined.<\/p>\n As for Sansom, his credit card statements were released as part of the criminal investigations against him.\u00a0 Upon checking with the campaign finance records, it was shown that Sansom did not reimburse the GOP for any expenses during the entire time he used his credit card.<\/p>\n But the case against Sansom does not end with credit card abuse.\u00a0 He is also facing felony charges over $6 million in taxpayer’s money he obtained for building an airport that a developer and campaign donor allegedly wanted to use for storing airplanes.\u00a0 Sansom secured the money from Northwest Florida State College.\u00a0 The college also gave him a $110,000 a year job last November, the same time as he was sworn in as House speaker.\u00a0 He subsequently relinquished this position when criminal investigations were commenced against him.<\/p>\n Amidst all the accusations, Sansom told the Northwest Florida Daily News that he had not spent any differently from any of the other credit card-holding officials in his party.<\/p>\n In cases such as these, the FBI will investigate in collaboration with the IRS.<\/p>\n