Trump's Fed pick owes US$75,000 in unpaid taxes

[NEW YORK] Stephen Moore, the conservative economist whom President Donald Trump plans to nominate for a seat on the Federal Reserve, owes US$75,000 in unpaid federal taxes, interest and penalties, according to court documents filed last year.

A lien for US$75,328.80 from the 2014 tax year was entered against Mr Moore at the request of the federal government in January 2018 in Montgomery County, Maryland, where he resides, the records show.

Mr Moore did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Guardian and Bloomberg News first reported the tax lien. According to Bloomberg News, Mr Moore referred questions about the tax lien to his wife, Anne Carey, who said Mr Moore had inadvertently deducted both alimony and child support payments to his former wife.

Child support is not deductible on federal taxes. Alimony had been deductible for divorces, such as Mr Moore's, that were completed before the start of this year. Trump's 2017 tax cut eliminated alimony deductibility for divorces going forward.

Mr Moore has built his career in Washington, in large part on his tax expertise - in particular, his enthusiastic support of tax cuts, including Mr Trump's signature tax law. He helped draft Mr Trump's tax plan in the 2016 campaign and other economic policy proposals.

Last week, Mr Trump announced his choice of Mr Moore - who recently impressed him with calls for the Fed to cut interest rates. The president did so before Mr Moore could be subjected to the kind of vetting that is typical for nominees.

Mr Trump has yet to formally nominate Mr Moore to the Fed, a position that requires Senate confirmation.

Mr Moore said Monday that Mr Trump's decision to nominate him had come as a surprise.

"I never really thought about this, but, you know, I thought that - the more I thought about it, the more I thought, this is economic policy right on the front line," Mr Moore said in the interview. "That's what I do."

NYTIMES