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Tax man haunts televangelists
04/10/2002 11:53 - (SA)
Charlotte - It's been years since they left the national spotlight, but televangelism's best-known couple - Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner - are still being hounded for $3 million (R30 miljion) in back taxes.
The Internal Revenue Service says Bakker and Messner owe
personal income taxes from the 1980s when they were building their Praise The Lord empire, The Charlotte Observer reported Friday.
Their Fort Mill, South Carolina, theme park and retreat -
Heritage USA - drew 6 million visitors at its 1986 peak. But the
ministry collapsed after revelations of Jim Bakker's sexual
encounter with a former church secretary. He later went to prison
for bilking followers out of $158 million.
Usually, the IRS has 10 years to collect taxes, but recent court filings show the agency continues dunning Bakker and Messner for taxes, some more than 20 years old.
The IRS assessed the taxes after revoking the PTL ministry's
nonprofit status, said Roe Messner, Tammy Faye's husband since
1993.
For more than 15 years, the IRS has been trying to collect taxes it says the Bakkers owe from 1981 through 1986. As a normal part of the collection process, the agency also had filed liens against the former couple.
With a lien in place, the IRS can seize assets, such as real
estate and bank accounts, to pay taxes. But Roe Messner said there are no assets. Messner said they rent their Matthews, North
Carolina, home.
"We don't have a clue what they're doing and don't plan to
trouble ourselves with a call to find out," he said.
When the agency's 10-year collection period expires, liens
usually expire, too. Court documents filed in July and September in county courts in Charlotte and York, South Carolina, indicate the IRS "mistakenly" allowed the liens to expire. The agency reinstated it.
David Bunn, a former IRS revenue officer, said, "The PTL case
was a major investigation involving the collection division, the
examination division and the criminal investigation division as
well as other federal agencies."
The size of the bill, he said, could explain the ongoing
collection effort. "The government, in doing its job appropriately, should be paying more attention to big dollars," he said.
Messner said Jim Bakker and his former wife didn't want to talk about the tax issues. "We don't want to stir the pot," Messner said.
He said the original tax amount was about $500 000 (R5 million). Penalties and interest account for the rest of the bill. The notices reinstating the liens list "James O. and Tamara F. Bakker" as owing $3 million. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA
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