State did not charge Martin O'Malley sales tax on mansion furniture

The Maryland Department of General Services did not charge sales tax to former Gov. Martin O'Malley when he purchased "junk" furniture from the governor's mansion as he was leaving office in January — another divergence from state rules governing such transactions, state officials said Friday.

The department is required to charge sales tax on the sale of surplus government property but did not apply the 6 percent levy — the increased rate O'Malley pushed into state law in 2007 — to the Democrat's discounted purchase of 54 furnishings from the Annapolis mansion.

"Sales tax wasn't paid" by O'Malley, Therese Yewell, a department spokeswoman, said in an email. Yewell confirmed that charging sales tax on such transactions is department policy. Asked why sales tax was not charged, Yewell said the agency could not say because the employees involved in the deal no longer work for the state.

More