Paper: Bruce omits info on tax filings

Former state representative, El Paso County commissioner and well-known anti-tax crusader Doug Bruce failed to file proper tax returns with the IRS for a nonprofit advocacy group he controlled, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported today.

Bruce, who's now running for an at-large seat on the Colorado Springs City Council, failed to note the political activity his Active Citizens Together charity participated in for several years, the newspaper reports.

The newspaper said Bruce did not disclose ACT's political involvement to the federal government as required by law for at least a three-year period at a time when it campaigned for or against at least eight political issues.

Bruce, however, told the Gazette he's since shut down the charity, calling the matter "a nonstory about a nonentity."

ACT, which Bruce created about a decade ago, was fined $11,300 by a state administrative law judge in December for failing to disclose campaign finance information in its backing of the tax- and debt-limiting Amendments 60, 61 and Proposition 101. He filed paperwork with the Secretary of State's Office disbanding the group a day after the fine was levied, the newspaper said.