Post by duncan on Apr 19, 2011 21:24:23 GMT -7
trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_d1e415a7-215c-5b34-bd94-d588f084b2aa.html
CHEYENNE -- A man involved in a confrontation with a tax official that prompted the state to temporarily suspend sales tax collections at gun shows says he doesn't run a business and shouldn't have to collect taxes for the state.
Duncan Philp, of Carpenter, said Thursday he was giving away T-shirts for free and for donations at a gun show in Pine Bluffs in April when a state Revenue Department official approached him about collecting sales taxes.
"OK, if I'm running a business fine I'll collect the sales tax and give it to you, but otherwise no I'm not going to do that," Philp said. "At some point I'm going to draw my line in the sand, and I guess that's it."
Philp, 52, said he is unemployed and is not involved in any business enterprise. He says he is involved in a group called the Wyoming Tyranny Response Team, which he described as an organization that conducts street protests against government erosion of people's rights.
Dan Noble, state excise tax division director, said one of his field representatives was involved in a confrontation with two individuals at one gun show.
Noble said he did not know the names of the two individuals, and he declined to say where the incident occurred or provide a description of what happened.
But he said his field representative "felt somewhat threatened," prompting Noble to suspend sales tax collections at gun shows while he reviews other ways to get the taxes collected.
"There's been confrontations before, and the fact is this one just got a little ugly and considering the environment these people work in I certainly don't want to put them in any kind of risk," Noble said. "I just don't want it going any further than it has, and I think there's probably some ways to defuse those issues, and I'm looking for solutions right now."
John Wise, president of the Pine Bluffs Sportsman Club, which put on the gun show, said there has never been a problem in the eight or nine years the show has been conducted.
In previous years, the state sent tax forms for the club to pass out to vendors, Wise said. But this time, the tax official showed up in person with a "bad attitude" and was rude to vendors, Wise said.
Philp, who described himself as a Libertarian, said there were no threats made during the confrontation and police didn't make arrests or force anyone to leave.
Noble said he agrees with how police handled the situation.
"It is something that when the environment that we work in, as tax collectors, you're going to have some people that have those kinds of feelings associated with any tax, and I think it is something that was best to be allowed to be defused in the way it was done," he said.
Both Noble and Philp rejected any link to the tea party movement in the incident.
CHEYENNE -- A man involved in a confrontation with a tax official that prompted the state to temporarily suspend sales tax collections at gun shows says he doesn't run a business and shouldn't have to collect taxes for the state.
Duncan Philp, of Carpenter, said Thursday he was giving away T-shirts for free and for donations at a gun show in Pine Bluffs in April when a state Revenue Department official approached him about collecting sales taxes.
"OK, if I'm running a business fine I'll collect the sales tax and give it to you, but otherwise no I'm not going to do that," Philp said. "At some point I'm going to draw my line in the sand, and I guess that's it."
Philp, 52, said he is unemployed and is not involved in any business enterprise. He says he is involved in a group called the Wyoming Tyranny Response Team, which he described as an organization that conducts street protests against government erosion of people's rights.
Dan Noble, state excise tax division director, said one of his field representatives was involved in a confrontation with two individuals at one gun show.
Noble said he did not know the names of the two individuals, and he declined to say where the incident occurred or provide a description of what happened.
But he said his field representative "felt somewhat threatened," prompting Noble to suspend sales tax collections at gun shows while he reviews other ways to get the taxes collected.
"There's been confrontations before, and the fact is this one just got a little ugly and considering the environment these people work in I certainly don't want to put them in any kind of risk," Noble said. "I just don't want it going any further than it has, and I think there's probably some ways to defuse those issues, and I'm looking for solutions right now."
John Wise, president of the Pine Bluffs Sportsman Club, which put on the gun show, said there has never been a problem in the eight or nine years the show has been conducted.
In previous years, the state sent tax forms for the club to pass out to vendors, Wise said. But this time, the tax official showed up in person with a "bad attitude" and was rude to vendors, Wise said.
Philp, who described himself as a Libertarian, said there were no threats made during the confrontation and police didn't make arrests or force anyone to leave.
Noble said he agrees with how police handled the situation.
"It is something that when the environment that we work in, as tax collectors, you're going to have some people that have those kinds of feelings associated with any tax, and I think it is something that was best to be allowed to be defused in the way it was done," he said.
Both Noble and Philp rejected any link to the tea party movement in the incident.
