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Source: Treasury nominee failed to pay taxes

DeeJayH

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My Way News - Source: Treasury nominee failed to pay taxes

WASHINGTON (AP) - President-elect Barack Obama's choice to run the Treasury Department and lead the economic rescue effort disclosed to senators Tuesday that he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes from 2001 to 2004, a last-minute complication in an otherwise smooth path to confirmation. Timothy Geithner paid most of the past-due taxes days before Obama announced his nomination in November, an Obama transition official said. The unpaid taxes were discovered by Obama's transition team while investigating Geithner's background, the official said.

:rofl Priceless
 
More details:

Geithner was responsible for paying his own self-employment taxes for his 2001-2004 employment at the IMF. He did not.

In 2006, the IRS notified him that he owed $14,847 in self-employment taxes and $2,383 in penalties from 2003 and 2004.

So at this point, Geithner is made aware that he did not pay his taxes for that period, and is forced to pay penalties and back taxes. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, he didn't correct the errors he made in 2001 or 2002, which were the exact same errors he made in 2003 and 2004.

Then...

Transition officials discovered last fall that Geithner also had not paid the taxes in 2001 or 2002. He paid $25,970 in taxes and interest for those years several days before Obama announced his nomination, the transition official said.

Explain a couple things to me -

1) Setting aside the irony in the guy controlling the IRS not paying taxes, is he actually an idiot? If you have a job for 4 years and pay your taxes a certain way, and are then told that an audit of the last two years turned up huge irregularities, would you just pay off those irregularities and go on your merry way? Or would you say "Wait a minute, I filed my taxes the exact same way for the entire 4 year period. Maybe I should look at the first two years as well, because those will obviously have the same error."

2) If he was forced to pay penalties back in 2006 when he was first notified of this error, how come he's not being forced to pay penalties this time around, when he should have even less of an excuse? Could it be because back in 2006 he wasn't the next Treasury of the Secretary?

Hilariously embarrassing. And of course, all of this is not mentioning the last tidbit:

Geithner also didn't realize a housekeeper he paid in 2004 and 2005 did not have current employment documentation as an immigrant for the final three months she worked for him, the transition official said.
 
Can one say: Trouble in paradise?
 
"This is another right wing conspiracy directed at my husband" oops, sorry wrong democrat criminal.

Me thinks this is going to be a real fun-filled administration!!:monkey:stooges:cuckoo:joke:monkeyarm:liar2
 
Geithner questioned about former housekeeper, taxes

WASHINGTON (CNN) - (updated 9:54 p.m. EST, Tue January 13, 2009) -- "Members of the Senate Finance Committee met Tuesday with treasury secretary nominee Tim Geithner over concerns involving his personal taxes and the immigration status of a former housekeeper, transition officials said.

The Geithners employed a housekeeper whose employment authorization document expired about three months before she stopped working for them in October 2005, according to a written statement from the Senate Finance Committee.

Later, the housekeeper, who is married to a U.S. citizen, was granted a green card, transition officials said."


The lead paragraph in this news piece suggests Geithner's problems are of a piece with some early designees in the Clinton Administration's Nanny-Gate, the likes of Zoe Baird and later Bush Administation's nominee Linda Chavez.
Both of these and some others chose to withdraw their nominations under pressure by the media.

The news article suggests we may have more of the same with our Treasury Secretary nominee. I guess that means that it is a big 'ho-hum', because "everyone does it".
BUT, no one who does his own taxes (or uses a CPA to do them) doesn't understand so called 'self employment' taxes.

It seems Geithner chose to ignore his tax obligations, later catching up (After Obama nominated him for treasury secretary, Geithner voluntarily amended his taxes for 2001 and 2002, paying $25,970 for those taxes and interest, the committee said.) with his nomation by Obama to head up Treasury and in that capacity the IRS as a lesser included agency downstream.

This from the Chair of the Senate Committe holding Geithners's hearing: "I believe that these errors, although serious, do not rise to the level of disqualification. He is an extremely competent man," said committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Montana. "The errors were, in my judgment, honest mistakes. He did not in any way intentionally make those mistakes."

Ha! I guess we have to cynically overlook dishonesty as long as we get the job done.

...
 
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Re: Geithner questioned about former housekeeper, taxes

So what we have here is a man who screwed up his own tax reports being nominated for the position that oversees the IRS. We have seen many incompetent choices from Bush, and now Obama continues the tradition.

Change? I think not. Just business as usual from our beloved incompetent boobs in Washington.
 
Re: Geithner questioned about former housekeeper, taxes

So what we have here is a man who screwed up his own tax reports being nominated for the position that oversees the IRS. We have seen many incompetent choices from Bush, and now Obama continues the tradition.

Change? I think not. Just business as usual from our beloved incompetent boobs in Washington.


If he had known he was going to be nominated to the Treasury slot would he instead have chosen to meet his tax responsibilities?

That's the 'screw up' you refer to. In point of fact he was quite certainly willing to 'game the system', a talent which is respected among the doncs.

The Republicans will tone down their objections because they are afraid of who else might be nominated, and that then they will be blamed for holding up an important nomination.
 
Irony at its finest.
 
Being right with my taxes is the priority of my life. That and fresh breath.
 
Being right with my taxes is the priority of my life. That and fresh breath.

Most of us feel that way

QUOTE FROM THE WSJ WEDNESDAY January 14

“The Obama team said Mr. Geithner's taxes have been paid in full, and that he didn't intend to avoid payment, but made a mistake common for employees of international institutions. That characterization was contested by Senate Finance Republicans, who produced IMF documents showing that employees are repeatedly told they are responsible for paying their payroll taxes.

As to why Mr. Geithner didn't pay all his back taxes after the 2006 audit, an Obama aide said the nominee was advised by his accountant he had no further liability. Senate Finance aides said they were concerned either Mr. Geithner or his accountant used the IRS's statute of limitations to avoid further back-tax payments at the time of the audit.”


Most likely a deliberately errant tax filer wouldn't let a CPA look at his tax return, because a CPA is obligated to point out errors in the tax filer’s return. Of course upon receiving letter of audit from the IRS almost any filer is forced to visit a CPA rather than just ask “theoretical” questions. In this case Geithner’s tax adviser must have pointed out that they were now beyond the statute of limitations. Then there were a couple of good reasons to not pay up:

1. The money and
2. It becomes a subterfuge to the less fully informed; he must have had a good case
3. Everyone dislikes the IRS

But another side-bar question: Why Kimba Wood, Zoe Baird, and Linda Chavez? Their issue only involved with-holding taxes for low paid household help.

And isn't this issue more about the media than Geithner? It was the media that raised such a stink about the three women listed above.
 
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Most likely a deliberately errant tax filer wouldn't let a CPA look at his tax return, because a CPA is obligated to point out errors in the tax filer’s return. Of course upon receiving letter of audit from the IRS almost any filer is forced to visit a CPA rather than just ask “theoretical” questions. In this case Geithner’s tax adviser must have pointed out that they were now beyond the statute of limitations. Then there were a couple of good reasons to not pay up:

1. The money and
2. It becomes a subterfuge to the less fully informed; he must have had a good case
3. Everyone dislikes the IRS

But another side-bar question: Why Kimba Wood, Zoe Baird, and Linda Chavez? Their issue only involved with-holding taxes for low paid household help.

And isn't this issue more about the media than Geithner? It was the media that raised such a stink about the three women listed above.


What did he think those 1099 forms were that he got every January? So basic. :roll:
 
Geithner also didn't realize a housekeeper he paid in 2004 and 2005 did not have current employment documentation as an immigrant for the final three months she worked for him, the transition official said.



http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/11/politics/11kerik.html

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 - Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration to be President Bush's secretary of homeland security late Friday night, citing questions related to the immigration status of a former household employee.




Will this Obama pick be treated the same as bernie kerik?
 
Re: Geithner questioned about former housekeeper, taxes

The Republicans will tone down their objections because they are afraid of who else might be nominated,

As well they should be. *I'm* quite afraid of it too. We've already had one intelligent, competent free-trader step down from Obama's economic team: Bill Richardson.

I'd MUCH rather have people like Richardson and Geithner have the president's ear than, say, people like Hilda Solis.
 
Re: Geithner questioned about former housekeeper, taxes

As well they should be. *I'm* quite afraid of it too. We've already had one intelligent, competent free-trader step down from Obama's economic team: Bill Richardson.

I'd MUCH rather have people like Richardson and Geithner have the president's ear than, say, people like Hilda Solis.

Ok, if we think there could've been no better pick, and I, not being better informed, lean that way too, but remember: he will be in charge (CZAR) of all TARP law dispositions re funds.
Add to that that he clearly does not always follow the law, games the system, and is not always honest in his statements to authority. He will need be watched closely in the future.
 
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