Trump’s Pick to Lead I.R.S. Promoted a Nonexistent Tax Credit

Billy Long, a former Republican congressman whom President Trump has tapped to lead the Internal Revenue Service, pitched his friends on a tax credit that the agency has said does not exist, he said during his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Many Democrats focused their questions at the hearing on Mr. Long’s history with the tribal tax credit, a supposed tax break offered by White River Energy Corp., an Arkansas-based oil and gas company. Mr. Long confirmed he had promoted the credit but said he had believed it was real when he encouraged people to claim it.

“I had no indication that they were anything but real,” he told lawmakers.

The I.R.S., responding to a request from Senate Democrats, previously told lawmakers there was no such credit. “We can confirm that these tax credits do not exist,” the agency wrote in March, adding that promoters of nonexistent credits could face criminal penalties.

But Mr. Long, over the course of questioning on Tuesday, cast doubt on the finding from the agency he is seeking to lead.

“I haven’t heard that from anyone at the I.R.S. directly, and I’m trying to find out who,” he said. “There’s a lot of people who work at the I.R.S.”

The former congressman, a Republican from Missouri, was paid more than $65,000 for his work encouraging people to claim the supposed credit, according to his financial disclosure and his statements before lawmakers.