Cook: Taking Double Tax Credit A Problem For Asa Hutchinson

The past week has been a bit of a mess for Asa Hutchinson. In two separate instances, Asa Hutchinson personally contributed to the story line that he is out of touch with average Arkansans.

We already know about Hutchinson’s bumbling Farm Bureau flub last week where he looked out of touch with Arkansas’s farmers.

A Sunday Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article on Hutchinson improperly taking the homestead tax credit on residences in Benton and Pulaski County once again made Asa Hutchinson appear out of touch.

When first asked by reporter Mike Wickline, Hutchinson said he never asked for a homestead credit in Pulaski County and that is was assigned to him without his knowledge. State law only allows people to receive a tax credit on one home.

Then, lo and behold, the reporter had a copy of the Pulaski County homestead tax credit application signed by Hutchinson. Hutchinson’s story changed after he was shown the application and Hutchinson said he was “surprised” he filled out the application.

Hutchinson then tells the Democrat-Gazette a convoluted story on how he never intended to claim two homestead tax credits and that he somehow discovered the improper tax credit in 2012. Hutchinson wasn’t exactly sure how he happened to discover the improper tax credit, but did pay Pulaski County for $1,050 in October of 2012 to correct the tax credit mistake.

The whole affair is eerily reminiscent of Jim Keet’s receiving a homestead tax credit while he lived in Florida. That became an issue in his 2010 gubernatorial race when Keet blamed his wife for the mistake.

Hutchinson’s mishandling of this issue is likely to become an issue in the gubernatorial campaign since it feeds the narrative of him being out of touch. Maybe Hutchinson didn’t purposefully intend to improperly claim the tax credit, but why the confusing and changing explanation?

In politics it’s often not the mistake itself, but how the candidate handles the controversy surrounding the mistake. In this instance, Hutchinson created problems for himself by mishandling this issue.

Mike Ross’s campaign released a statement from spokesperson Brad Howard about the issue:

“Today’s troubling revelation by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that Congressman Hutchinson cheated on his taxes and then evaded penalties for doing so is just more disturbing proof that Congressman Hutchinson is out of touch with working families in Arkansas.

Congressman Hutchinson is too disconnected to fight for working families in Arkansas who are expected to pay their taxes properly and pay fines when they don’t. It’s become clear that the only person Congressman Hutchinson is looking out for is himself.”

Did you catch how Ross’s campaign used the phrase “cheated on his taxes”? The issue of Asa Hutchinson’s improperly taking two homestead tax credits isn’t going away and Hutchinson now has a major problem on his hands.