Designer of AOC's 'Tax the Rich' gown owes back taxes on $1.6 million Hollywood Hills home, report

The designer of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's "Tax the Rich" gown for the recent Met Gala reportedly has her own tax issues, including owing thousands on a $1.6 million home she recently purchased in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills.

Designer Aurora James bought the home in September 2020, but the property is already listed as "delinquent" by the Los Angeles County assessor's office. The office told The New York Post, which this past weekend reported on James' tax issues, the designer owed $2,504 in property taxes.

The company had yet to return a request for comment Monday morning from Just the News before this story was posted.

Most of the tax issues for the 37-year-old designer are related to Cultural Brokerage Agency, an LLC she formed in 2011 to serve as the parent company of her fashion brand, now known as Brother Vellies.

New York state has issued three open tax warrants on the company for failing to withhold income taxes from employees' paychecks totaling $14,798, the state Department of Taxation and Finance told The Post. The debts were incurred before the pandemic. The company has been hit with 15 warrants in total since 2015, the newspaper also reported. 

In addition, the Internal Revenue Service from April 2018 to April 2019, placed six liens on Cultural Brokerage Agency totaling $103,220. The liens cite the company’s failure to remit employee payroll taxes, The Post also reports. 

The IRS declined to comment for the newspaper on the matter.