Embattled Sportsmen Group Has Never Filed a Tax Return
Tuesday, September 10th, 2013 -- 8:24 AM
-An affiliate of an embattled sportsmen's group that had sought a controversial $500,000 state grant has represented itself as both a nonprofit and a for-profit group, and in spite of its substantial revenue it has no record of having filed a state tax return.The revelation raises the latest in a series of questions about United Sportsmen of Wisconsin Inc., a group with little experience in outdoors training but close ties to GOP insiders that has been seeking to influence public policy and snag taxpayer money.
The Department of Natural Resources at first defended its award of the grant to promote hunting and fishing to United Sportsmen, but Gov. Scott Walker rescinded it last week after it was discovered that United Sportsmen had misrepresented its nonprofit status and that its president had been cited in 2005 for shooting a black bear without the proper license.
In statements with a donor in 2011, United Sportsmen represented itself as a nonprofit. But on Friday, the group said in a statement that it was a for-profit entity.
Either way, the group doesn't show up as having filed a Wisconsin income tax return, a basic step for both companies and charities that a half-dozen experts on accounting and tax law said that United Sportsmen likely should have done.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.