Maryland House majority leader double-dipping on tax credits

Barve

Maryland’s House majority leader and his wife improperly received property tax credits worth thousands of dollars over the past several years, even after he co-sponsored a bill designed to crack down on tax cheats.

Gaithersburg Del. Kumar Barve, the second-highest-ranking Democrat in the State House, and his lawyer wife, Maureen Quinn, each claimed a different home as their primary residence on tax forms, although Barve’s Web site says they both live in Gaithersburg. According to public records, the move triggered tax credits worth $5,844.88 on Quinn’s Annapolis property and $3,575.13 on Barve’s Gaithersburg home over the past three years.

Maryland provides a Homestead Property Tax Credit to cushion the effect of rising property assessments on tax bills for homeowners’ primary residences. The Maryland Assessments Procedures Manual, available online, states, “In cases where spouses own two dwellings and claim each occupies one of the residences, the credit will be granted only on the one property used as the principal residence unless the couple is legally separated.”

State budget officials estimated a few years ago that if just 2 percent of property owners were claiming the credit improperly, local governments could be losing a combined $10 million a year in revenue, and the state could be foregoing $700,000 a year.

Barve told The Examiner on Sunday that his taxes are prepared by a certified public accountant who told him it was fine for them to collect the tax credit on both homes. He and his wife are not separated, Barve said.

Roberta Ward, manager of the State Department of Assessments and Taxation’s Montgomery County office, said a married couple could not claim the credit on two properties, and it had been that way “forever.”

Barve and Quinn each purchased their own homes shortly before they got married in September 2004; he bought his that summer, and she bought hers in late 2003.

“My accountant advised me to file that way, but if there is a problem I will certainly return the money,” Barve said.

Robert Young, associate director of the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, said many married tax filers try to claim double home credits out of ignorance of the law.

In 2007, Barve co-sponsored the bill in Maryland’s General Assembly requiring homeowners to apply for the credit by providing Social Security numbers and claiming a principal residence under oath, in order to stop people from claiming it on multiple properties.
Barve also reviewed the bill from his seat on the House Ways and Means Committee.

In November, Barve filed paperwork claiming one principal residence for himself and his wife for future tax returns. 

“I just paid my taxes as the bills are presented to me, I didn’t really question what was given to us by our accountant,” Barve said.