As we approach April 15th, all of us groan a little bit as we pay our taxes.  There is, however, some small comfort in the fact that we are all in the same boat and we all have to pay them.  Or so we thought until recently.  I’m not going to go through the list of President Obama’s appointments with tax problems (other than to say that it seems as if the way to collect delinquent taxes is just to nominate everyone you know for a cabinet position–although some of us have a majority of friends who actually pay their taxes), but it does seem like paying taxes is optional to some people (or so they think).  Anyway, here comes another one.

According to the New York Post, Democratic Representative Eliot Engel, who represents the Bronx, has listed a house in Potomac, Maryland as his primary residence on Maryland property tax forms for at least 10 years, netting nearly $7,000 in credits over the past four years.  According to the rules set forth in the state of Maryland, the Engels do not qualify as residents because they both have New York driver’s licenses and New York voter registration cards.  Most of us who live in high tax states would love to buy a house in East Overshoe somewhere that has no state income tax and claim residence there, but we don’t have the means or the dishonesty to do it.  Obviously this Congressman had no such limitations.