Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

Wow- How refreshing-

A president that admits that he's embarrassed, pissed and that he screwed up.

Amazing.

Jenn

Too bad he didn't do it with Giethner. He didn't get pissed and embarrassed until he'd had four problematic nominees, and three withdrawals. And after he'd had a lot more problems ramming through his bailout plan than what he'd expected. He needs to score some points for his bigger plan than his HHS nomination. To me, it sounds like he's more pissed and embarrassed that he is having headaches.

Maybe he should reconsider Howard Dean. He's a doctor, so he will both have familiarity with health case and won't make enough money to warrant all these tax problems.

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

Stupid question, if TurboTax didn't do the self-employment tax for Giethner correctly, then are there lots and lots of self-employed people out there who owe additional tax and don't know it?

I guess you don't get a 1099 for a car and driver.

[Sheherezade]

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

I guess Giethner didn't bother me because very few experts could actually say right away that it was an error. In fact, there were people with accounting firms calling up the news saying that this rule had gone back and forth a number of times, blah, blah. Also, he was dinged for paying the error amount for the years he was audited but NOT correcting it on his older tax returns -- BUT the IRS doesn't accept revisions or payments on tax returns after three years. Unless you are going through a confirmation process -- I suppose then they make an exception. Anyhoo. It didn't impress me as something that he SHOULD know from being the head of the NY Federal Reserve Bank. Maybe in his new job, yes. I don't think they are looking for the bestest guy from H & R Block for the job. I'm not sure knowledge of the tax code is the key issue. :huh:

Daschle is dirty. There, I've said it. I think that's the buzz in the media and on the street, so his tax issues look more like fraud than Giethner's. Also, as stated, someone who has been on Capitol Hill for his entire adult life (except 3 years directly out of college) should know they need to be extra careful about indiscretions. It seems like a bonehead move. He's been angling for a top spot for years now. Shouldn't he have looked in to how this would work out?

And yes, Jenn. One of my favorite things has been how quickly everyone has been to apologize and admit mistakes. It obviously strikes a chord with some of us. Can't say why.

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

I should go read more about this. Was there something more nuanced about Giethner than the regular employment tax? Like some little detail sort of thing that Turbotax wouldn't catch? I'm serious that there are probably lots of people who are self-employed who use that and it would be a huge glitch if they weren't filing correctly.

[Sheherezade]

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

I think it had to do with the money coming from the IMF. I should go look up the quotes. I'll be back with those if I can find them.

[Sheherezade]

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

I'm back. Here's a quote about the tax issue from WSJ.

Geithner didn't realize that his status as an employee of the International Monetary Fund subjected him to different tax rules than other U.S. citizens. (According to the IMF, employees who are U.S. citizens have to file their taxes as self-employers and use Schedule SE (self-employment) on the 1040. See here.) The IMF withholds income tax payments four times a year; employees are responsible on their own for calculating how much payroll tax they owe. It's kind of complicated, but IMF employees are supposed to be briefed about these rules. (The Journal's Weisman writes that the "IRS has mandated loose rules for U.S.-born IMF employees unaware of their obligations to pay payroll taxes) because this happens a lot.

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

Ok, that makes sense. That is an unusual circumstance. I'll bet Turbotax doesn't have a "Did you work for the IMF" checkbox next to the "Did you have a baby this year" box.

[Deebs]

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

Don't any of these people get audited? We have been three times in the last six years (don't know what's wrong with us, but the IRS has always ended up owing us a little in the end). At this point, that's the only reason I'm inspired to do my taxes correctly this year.

[DCJenn]

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

I have a cousin at World Bank and a friend from high school at the IMF and they've both said that the tax stuff is a nightmare to deal with as a US Citizen. (that and did you know that the IMF pays people to go to their home countries for weeks at a time but US Citizens are not given the same amount of leave?)

My friend at the IMF stressed every single quarter about the tax thing- and there were quarters that she forgot, or paid late and there were quarters that she overpaid.

That's why Geithner's situation didn't bother me- I'd be willing to be there are a LOT of WB and IMF employees in similar situations.

Daschle- bad news. I wasn't remotely excited about him in the first place. He's the DC version of a Chicago politician.

The Bean Counter from today? Apparently it was a lien on her house from DC for less than $1000. (sounds to me like she wanted an 'out'. And trust me, the DC tax office has completely screwed us, more than once. This year it was on Real Estate tax which required that we had to fight it and now we're $-1100 showing on our escrow balance for payments of tax to the city, even though when you look at the accounts from the DC side, they owe us $163.

Jenn

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

Daschle- bad news. I wasn't remotely excited about him in the first place. He's the DC version of a Chicago politician.

The more I read about him, the more I think $hitweasel. I retract my previous statement about it maybe being a good thing he is a healthcare insider. If he is on the side of hospitals and insurers that leaves patients and doctors to get screwed.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

(sounds to me like she wanted an 'out'.

That's funny! That's the same thing I was thinking.

Maybe I'm being a hardas$ here, but you guys seem kind toward Giethner. He's supposed to be RUNNING the IRS. He's not some average schmo. The entire reason everyone was so "panicked" about getting him confirmed was that he was promoted as "the only man for the job." The only man for the job couldn't figure out how to file his taxes because it was tricky? I'm pretty sure the whole mortgage meltdown thing might get a little tricky, too... I've done personal and corporate tax work for income earned overseas. It can really be awful but...you still have to do it correctly, or you get held liable. There's no "but it was really hard" pass. :huh:

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

It sounds to me like it is more an issue of the IRS changing requirements and not being entirely clear than him being evasive or trying to dodge it. There is some irony in him overseeing the IRS.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

It sounds to me like it is more an issue of the IRS changing requirements and not being entirely clear than him being evasive or trying to dodge it. There is some irony in him overseeing the IRS.

Gee...the IRS not being clear...a world I couldn't imagine...

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

That is why I am giving him a pass and that is what I am telling all the reporters calling and asking for my opinion. I have had to refile return because my accountant missed something, and then tried to charge me (bastard!) even though it was his fault. That mistake wasn't nearly as interesting as Geithner's. I also had a situation where two accountants, each in different states saw things differently and that also wasn't all that interesting. And its not like I am in high finance or anything. The bigger issue to me is how they deal with the mistake once they find it and it sounds like Daschle didn't think it was all that important until the nomination process.

Re: Why can't our elected officials pay their taxes?

FWIW on Diane Rehm they stated that Daschle talked (I'm assuming this a documented e-mail or how else would they know) to his tax attorney in June 08 about this exact issue and didn't "come to" about it until Jan 09. This was today's show. So lets not let TurboTax have the whole accountability on the subject.