Report: North Georgia lawmaker owes $347,000 in back taxes

State Rep. David Ralston of Blue Ridge owes the Internal Revenue Service $347,318 in income taxes, penalties and interest from as far back as 1996, according to court records.

Ralston, a Republican who ran for state attorney general in 1998, had a tax lien filed against him in Superior Court in Fannin County in April, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said on its Web site Thursday night.

The newspaper said a copy of the IRS lien was mailed anonymously, along with a copy of the newspaper's article about Ralston paying $36,880 in back state income taxes in 2003.

Ralston, who is chairman of the House Non-Civil Judiciary Committee, issued a written statement through the office of House Speaker Glenn Richardson saying: "This is a personal matter that I am working diligently and cooperatively to resolve."

The newspaper also reported that as of July, Rep. Lester G. Jackson, D-Savannah, owed $15,265 in state income taxes, penalties, fees, and interest from tax year 2003. State revenue officials filed a request in the State Court of Fulton County on Monday to garnish Jackson's monthly state paycheck to pay off his debt.

Jackson said he filed his 2003 state income tax return and denied that he fell behind in paying his taxes or that he owes the state. He said he paid the state about $10,000 this week and would pay the balance Friday to close the matter, hoping the state will discover it made an error and refund his money.

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