First it was Geithner and his self-employment tax issues.
Now, a new Obama pick for the Cabinet has tongues in the Senate Finance Committee wagging over tax matters: Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD).
The Senate Finance committee plans to review a number of items when they meet on Monday. The issues that concern the committee are tax related omissions: the use of a limousine and driver, totaling more than $250,000, that Daschle didn’t disclose on his income taxes; failing to report more than $80,000 he earned in consulting fees and taking a charitable deduction for a donation to a nonqualifying organization. The tax years in question are not years in which Daschle served in the Senate.
Senator Daschle has apparently since filed an amended tax return and paid an additional $128,203 in taxes, plus $11,964 in interest. But will it be enough to quiet the critics? I don’t think so.
Despite the face that the Democrats are putting on the confirmation hearings, this is not good for Daschle. Some tax omissions or errors are understandable. Failing to report more than $325,000 of income over a three year period isn’t quite so understandable especially when, like Geithner, Daschle was in a financial position to obtain good tax advice. This leads me to believe that he either surrounds himself with people that provide bad advice or he makes bad decisions (purposeful or not).
I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt on the charitable donation. Many nonprofit organizations are not tax-exempt, and this is not always made clear to donors even though it is the responsibility of the donor to confirm tax exempt status before taking a deduction. Reportedly, these donations were to nonqualifying charitable foundations. The donations, totaling about $14,000, were removed from three years’ worth of income tax returns.
But my sympathy ends about there.
Daschle is going to have to answer some tough questions in the coming weeks. And even in a desperate economy, the patience of taxpayers will only go so far. What signals are we sending that “regular” people must be compliant when even the rich and political don’t want to can’t figure out our current Tax Code?
The charity donations I can understand – sometimes you think something is a qualified charity only to find out later that it is not – that has happened to me. And he gave the money away anyway so it really wasn’t for his benefit other than the small percentage of tax advantage he might have gotten out of it.
But according to articles I have read the vetting process was not when it was discovered. According to “unnamed sources” the good Senator was sitting around his office one day, long before being approached for a post in the cabinet, when he got to thinking that some of the items in his tax returns from several years ago just might not be correct. Sure he was. Lotsa folks sit around their office daydreaming about what their past tax returns contained. But do I think the American people are going to raise sand if he gets nominated? No. There will be some small group of folks that will complain but for the most part we will just accept it and move on. Because we have gotten used to crooked politicians – we had no choice because there are so many of them. It is now considered “normal” for a politician to get caught doing things a little differently than normal folks. We expect it of them. I sometimes almost think we demand it. And didn’t they send Leona Helmsley to jail for cheating on her taxes? And don’t they make a really, really, really big deal about how we are all “shareholders” and supposed to do the right thing when it comes to taxes – and this guy, as well as the one before him, pay the taxes, interest and, I would guess but not guarantee, penalties and walk around like nothing has happened. Just a little misunderstanding. Probably involved something about not being able to read and comprehend tax reporting requirements so lets put those folks in charge of a really big government department. They will fit right in, I’m sure.
Skip
What’s with the strike out of ‘don’t want to’? There are lots of complicated provisions of the code, but neither Daschle or Geither’s issues were in those areas. They’re both very smart guys, who either didn’t bother to figure out the law, or intentionally disregarded it. There’s no way either of them were unable to comprehend the law. For Obama to include either of them in his cabinet is a slap in the face to honest taxpayers.
On the other hand, the tax gap gets closed a bit with each of Obama’s nominees.
How long have these guys been filing tax returns?? Come on , no excuses here. Sometimes the wealthy and the ego allows one to feel that it’s ok for them and that their behavior is unlikely to be noticed. They may be looking along time (it seems) for an honest politician to fill positions.
As a lawyer, my major concern with our system of laws is that they are too complex for the ordinary person to understand. They say “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” but in practice it is an excuse that people can easily use any time. Our system of laws can only work if people understand and follow the laws. When laws get too complex – or worse yet, illogical and abstruse – people will stop trying very hard to follow them. I am sure this is so with tax law. It is vital that we simplify the tax code as well as other areas of the law that are so hard to understand that people just don’t try. Bad and complex laws breed contempt for the law. That may lead to further law-breaking and possibly to the ultimate destruction of our society.
How about this novel idea. If we’re supposedly getting a “Change” why can’t we just find folks who are not encumbered with “shifty pasts” to help run our country. I expected more fresh/new faces who don’t have negative political pasts. As an American I feel we were in for more of the same crooked folks doing more of the same questionable things. If you truly want to put American investor/consumers at rest ,show us that the people you install are moral to their fellow Americans and will do their jobs to enforce laws. Not… how many times they have beat the system and still get installed in their respective appointments.
Someone who voted for one of nontraditional candidates.
Hmmmm…..I guess everyone should understand our Congressmen are above the law, it does not apply to them and they should be left alone to make all the rules we are required to follow.
Just kidding!
I guess all men are created equal….some are more equal than others! I was hoping this administration would be an example…not a bad example.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
I just don’t get it.
I’ve been relying on professional tax advice from reputable CPA’s since my first real money job at WMMR in the ’80s. Even when I was audited as an outside salesperson because I bought a house and a car in a year when I only had $9,000 in declared income, I got a nice letter from the district director of the Internal Revenue Service that my return was accepted unchanged.
Business expenses must be ordinary and necessary. Self-employment tax is the way I pay for Social Security as a sole proprietor. These are not abstruse concepts.
Now I know why these Dems aren’t concerned about higher tax rates — they don’t pay anyway! I do have some clients with outstanding debts owed to the IRS should the President need more cabinet nominees. Problem is my clients are small business folks who were trying to keep the doors open by not escrowing the withholdings. That actually kept some people employed. But if we make sure more taxes go to Washington, then we get billion Dollar stimulous packages that may debatedly created jobs. Sounds Like Daschle — who I predict will be confirmed anyway — really is the winner in this mix. My how things have changed!
Something I just read – apparently, based on previous years, this gentleman is going to give up about 2 1/2 million bucks a year to accept the cabinet position. I have no idea how much that position pays but it appears to me that if someone is willing to give up 2 1/2 million bucks a year then there must be more to this than meets the eye – not that any politician would ever, ever do anything underhanded or less then above board. Such as a tax understatment of a considerable amount.