We taxpayers are underwriting Al Sharpton’s million-dollar pay for ostensibly charitable work with tax deduction subsidies for donors to his National Action Network. The Trump economy evidently has been very, very good for Sharpton, whose “charitable” work yielded an average pay of $283,543 from 2007 through 2016.

Melissa Klein and Georgett Roberts of the  New York Post report:

The Rev. Al Sharpton raked in $1,046,948 from his own charity last year, according to National Action Network’s latest tax filings obtained by The Post.

Sharpton got a $324,000 salary — 32% higher than his 2017 pay — in addition to a $159,596 bonus and $563,352 in “other compensation.”

The Harlem-based nonprofit — which Sharpton controls as president and CEO — said the extra cash was to make up for the years from 2004 to 2017 when he didn’t get his full pay.

NAN said it hired an executive compensation firm that determined the good reverend was owed $1.252 million — but he was generously willing to take $500,000 less.

Sharpton and the nonprofit’s board also agreed “he has now been fully compensated for all the years he was underpaid and received no bonus,” the NAN statement said.

Sharpton’s income now places him into the upper reaches of the top one percent. And this is juts from his charitable work, not including his income from MSNBC, nor, presumably, speaking fees and other income that has not been laundered through NAN.

Sharpton is shameless:

The holy man’s mammon really raised eyebrows last year when NAN’s filing revealed he had sold the rights to his life story to his own charity for $531,000. The organization contended the purchase would provide a revenue stream because it could turn around and sell the rights.

NAN at the time said an unnamed “executive committee independently approved” the deal, leading one expert to question how the independence was achieved.

“In this case, it’s really difficult because of his role in the organization and just because of his overall influence,” Linda Sugin, a Fordham University Law School professor and associate dean said at the time.

Sharpton said Saturday that NAN did sell the rights for a documentary that filmed the night of his 65th birthday gala at the New York Public Library, an event hosted by Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee. But he said he hadn’t received any cash yet.

Sharpton, despite his huge cash haul, hasn’t yet paid off his outstanding tax liens:

Sharpton has been paying down millions in his own personal federal and state tax liens. In June, he finally paid off his personal tax debt to the state, which last year stood at $95,031.21. He still owes $698,470.99 in back taxes for three of his companies, according to the state Tax Department.

Photo credit: AFGE