According to the Miami Herald, former Vice Presidential candidate and current Alaskan Governor, Sarah Palin, must pay back taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received over the past few years. A snippet of the article can be found below, but the full text can be found here.
The governor's office wouldn't say this week how much she owes in back taxes for meal money, or whether she intends to continue to receive the per diem allowance. As of December, she was still charging the state for meals and incidentals.
"The amount of taxes owed is a private matter," Sharon Leighow, Palin's spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "If the governor collects future per diem, those documents would be a matter of public record."
The revelation about Palin comes as U.S. senators, including Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are under scrutiny over back taxes. A survey by the political newspaper and Web site Politico found that Begich was one of seven senators who acknowledged owing back taxes.
Some other state employees also owe back income taxes for travel payments and will be getting revised tax forms, Annette Kreitzer, state administration commissioner, said in an e-mail.
She wouldn't say which, or how many, employees will be receiving the notifications.
