Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sees fines for unpaid tax warrant increase

Fines have been piling up for Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over an unattended to tax warrant that was filed against her now-defunct business half-a-decade ago, according to a report from the Washington Examiner.

Ocasio-Cortez's home state of New York filed a warrant against Brook Avenue Press, a child-focused publishing house founded by the now-congresswoman in 2012, to collect $1,618 in unpaid corporate taxes.

Because Ocasio-Cortez has not paid any of the taxes, the balance has now increased by more than 50% to $2,461.

The warrant was filed against the shuttered business about two months after launched her campaign against then incumbent New York Democrat Rep. Joe Crowley. Ocasio-Cortez's office told the New York Post several years ago that the congresswoman, among the House's most progressive members, learned of the warrant after she was sworn into Congress for the first time. 

Though Ocasio-Cortez initially said she would repay the tax bill, her office later said the warrant's issuance was an "error" that she was contesting.

In 2020, a spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez told the Post, "The congresswoman is still in the process of contesting the tax warrant. The business has been closed for several years now, and so we believe that the state Tax Department has continued to collect the franchise tax in error. As anyone who's tried to contest a tax bill in error knows, it takes time."

Ocasio-Cortez has become known for calling on the Americans, particularly higher wage-earners, to pay higher taxes to fund various proposals, including the sweeping Green New Deal.