April 15, 2008 01:20 AM UTC

CD-2 Candidate Tax Returns: More Bad News for Polis

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• by: Colorado Pols

We missed this story on Friday from the Boulder Daily Camera:

Jared Polis publicized seven years’ worth of tax returns Thursday, a day after his major Democratic rivals in the 2nd Congressional District race made similar disclosures.

Joan Fitz-Gerald and Will Shafroth, who released their tax returns Wednesday, said they did so in large part to prompt their wealthy opponent to open the books on his income and tax information.

Polis’ returns show five years — from 2001 to 2005 — during which the Internet entrepreneur paid no taxes. He showed a net loss of income for four of those five years.

The returns also show a couple of years when he posted a total of more than $120 million in adjusted gross income and more than $18.4 million in taxes paid.

Polis, 32, said the discrepancy in tax and income data over the seven years is primarily based on whether he was developing companies — which would often operate at a loss in their initial years — or selling a company.

“In my business career, I only make significant money when I sell a company,” Polis said Thursday.

Two years ago, Liberty Media Inc. bought Provide Commerce Inc., which operated Polis-founded ProFlowers.com. The sale was valued at $477 million, $116 million of which went to Polis.

Polis said in many of the years he didn’t owe taxes, he was reporting income losses — in 2005 his losses reached $2.6 million — as he tried to bring companies he helped found into the black.

“I founded several high-growth companies, and we would manage those for growth rather than for profit,” he said. “When I make money, I pay taxes. When I don’t make money, I don’t.”

Is Polis legally correct here? Maybe, but it sure looks terrible. The ads write themselves: “Jared Polis, millionaire, doesn’t pay taxes.”

Given the harm that will come from this disclosure, it probably would have made more sense for the Polis campaign to refuse to open up his books. He still would have taken a hit, but it wouldn’t have been as bad. “Polis Refuses to Disclose Tax Records” is better than “Polis Doesn’t Pay Taxes.”