CHAISE OVER:Rep. Charles Rangel lounges on the beach near his Punta Cana cabana (above) in happier times. He just reported its sale for up to $500,000.
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It’s hasta la vista to the Dominican Republic — and his tacky beachfront lounge chair — for Rep. Charles Rangel.
The embattled Harlem Democrat reported that he sold the posh cabana in the Caribbean island retreat of Punta Cana — the same vacation digs that landed him in a world of trouble back home after his failure to pay taxes on rental income triggered an ethics probe last year.
Rangel reported the Dec. 19 sale in his financial-disclosure form filed with the clerk of the House of Representatives yesterday. He was required only to include a price range for what the beachfront property fetched on the market, between $250,000 and $500,000.
The sale came just months after Rangel was publicly humiliated before Congress, which took the rare step of voting to censure him for his financial foul-ups.
While separating him from the source of a headache, the sale also left the 81-year-old congressman with a tidy profit. His financial statements reports an initial investment of $82,750, plus improvements, in 1987.
It’s unclear how much Rangel precisely made off the sale. House rules require lawmakers to report earnings only in wide spectrums. For Rangel’s total income from the property, including rents and the profit from the sale, he reported his earnings were between $100,000 and $1 million.
Now that it’s been publicly reported, the sale means the congressman is likely on the hook for thousands of dollars in capital-gains taxes.
Rangel’s office declined to answer specific questions about why he decided to sell. Punta Cana Resorts, the corporation that managed the condo complex, declined to comment.
The Post first reported on Rangel’s tax woes on his Dominican retreat in 2008, an exposé that included a visit to the resort that showed the hefty Rangel sprawled out napping on a beach lounge chair.
It was unclear yesterday whether the infamous chair was part of the sale.
Rangel was censured by the House in part for failing to pay taxes on $16,000 in rental income he generated from the resort over a 17-year-period. He was required to repay the back taxes.
The tax dodge, and other ethics violations, forced Rangel to give up the chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee.
Rangel was censured for violating a plethora of House ethics rules. Aside from dodging taxes, he was nailed for concealing assets and misusing his congressional office to raise money for the City College center that bears his name — also first reported by The Post.
He had used official stationery to hit up donors to fund the center. He initially downplayed the charges to “sloppy bookkeeping,” and denied he was corrupt.
Despite his ethics woes, a feisty Rangel sought and easily won re-election to a 22nd term.
Elsewhere, Rangel’s forms show he owns empty lots worth between $1,000 and $15,000 in Glassboro, NJ.
Rangel also reports “collection of past due rent” for property at 74 W. 132nd St.