4 and counting: another Obama appointee with tax issues

[minnie61650]

Same here. We have been tempted to though, and it would've been easy to do so. In the end though, eventhough we feel they are too high, we paid what we owed.

Taxes have always been too high but we were never tempted to cheat.

Honest mistakes can still happen.
Our tax lady filled out the wrong amount on an item last year.
It was a good thing DH caught that before we filed.
We ended up paying more than originally thought but it was far better he caught the mistake than having the IRS find it after it was filed.

just my 2 cents.

 

[Laura]

Where have you been? It HAS happened to the Republicans, and many of them got a pass...like Palin and McCain and Reagan...oh, and the Bushes as well.

Moral of the story: lots of people screw up on their taxes; it's not a disease that Democrats have. Sometimes it's intentional, sometimes not.

But I say, let the Republicans complain. It's certainly their right.

 

[jodifla]

Yep, we've filed several amended returns over the years as our taxes have gotten more complicated.

Some years it was to get more money back, and some years, it was to pay more money on our taxes.

Again, people who think their taxes are flawless are kidding themselves. Even our expert, tax-enrolled preparers have disagreed on various issues with our taxes.

 

[prowler295bhs]

Notice the quote in my sig. Works well in this thread. Thanks jodifla!

 

[need_a_Disney_fix]

Evidently little Tommy Daschle had a few more issues on top of his tax woes. According to Charles Krauthammer in an op-ed piece he had this to offer:

The Daschle affair was more serious because his offense involved more than taxes. As Michael Kinsley once observed, in Washington the real scandal isn't what's illegal, but what's legal. Not paying taxes is one thing. But what made this case intolerable was the perfectly legal dealings that amassed Daschle $5.2 million in just two years.

He'd been getting $1 million per year from a law firm. But he's not a lawyer, nor a registered lobbyist. You don't get paid this kind of money to instruct partners on the Senate markup process. You get it for picking up the phone and peddling influence.

Also in the op-ed Mr. Krauthammer points out that Obama stated on Feb. 4 "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe." In his inaugural address he stated "we have chosen hope over fear." I guess Obama has decided to use the fear factor in order to get his Porkulus Bill through. So much for hope. That didn't take long.

 

[minnie61650]

Chooseing hope over fear is a good thing.

Sometimes,however we must face reality.

The reality is our economy is sinking much faster than it sank in the past few ressions and there is no sign of a slow down.

Last month (January 2009) 600,000 jobs were lost.

Over one half a million jobs were lost in Nov.and Dec. of 2008.

That is largest number of jobs lost since 1974.

 

[mkingdomlvr]

and that is terrible-however, the only help those folks are going to get from this plan is an extension of unemployment benefits. All the rest is pork that might bear some fruit near the end of 2009, but most likely will not affect anyone until 2010. There's very little immediate help in this bill.

It also doesn't excuse those cabinet choices who couldn't bother to pay their taxes from responsibility just because the country is "in crisis".

I thought that using fear to push an agenda was a bad thing??

 

[Disney Doll]

Neither do I. And as luck (apparently) would have it, my husband doesn't cheat on his taxes either. I guess we're kinda different, huh? Old-fashioned. Reactionary. Conservative. Law-abiding. All that stuff that's really un-nuanced these days.

DH & I are the same.
We declare every freakin' cent we make.
I never want to get audited by the IRS.

 

[Disney Doll]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-hogarth/mccain-owes-back-taxes-on_b_120632.html
It's the La Jolla property where the McCains are having trouble. As Newsweek reported last month, the McCains didn't pay their tax bill on the property for four years - even with the ridiculously low perks under California's Proposition 13. Only after a reporter brought it to their attention did they quietly pay the bill - but the treasurer in San Diego still says they have underpaid the county $1,742. Ironically, McCain has cautioned against assistance for foreclosing homeowners because "any assistance must not reward those who were irresponsible at the expense of those who weren't."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/07/experts-palin-owes-25000_n_132538.html

Several tax experts said they believe Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin is required to pay federal taxes on $25,000 in reimbursements from the state of Alaska for her children's travel expenses.


Eh, even YOUR guys make mistakes. And last night on a radio show, they were talking about the first Bush and the second Bush having to pay back taxes. Oh, and Reagan too.

Political theater, pure and simple. With a tax code that runs thousands of pages, mistakes happen.

I don't care whose "guy" it is. It is unacceptable from either party for any reason. It is unacceptable from the spouses of people who may be tapped to hold higher offices in this land, because the "office hilder" benefits in some way. There is a question of ethics and integrity, and while I am quite sure there is none of either in Washington DC or in national politics, if President Obama can speak of change, then so can I. Hold our elected officials' feet to the fire as far as their behavior, ethiucs and integrity go. I wouldn't tolerate my husband doing something illegal or unethical. And, quite frankly, I can forgive a "tax preparing error due to complicated tax laws" until you discover or are notified that there has been an error. Then pay your damn taxes. Right then. As soon as you find out. Not umpteen years later when your spouse may be up for a national government appointment or when you get "outed" by the press.

 

[Disney Doll]

What exactly is diversionary?

What I am seeing , by these examples, is that tax mistakes happen to politicians of all political stripes.

If Ms Solis has nothing to do with her husband's business - and thereby nothing to do with his business' taxes - then its an embarrassment - but it should not stop her from becoming the Secretary of Labor.

So you are presuming that Ms.Solis doesn't benefit at all from the income from her husband's business? They keep all their finances completely separate so that she in now way benefitted from having that extra money that he didn't pay in taxes sitting in an account earning interest??

I find that hard to believe.

 

[Disney Doll]

ITA!

Tax mistakes happen to many of us.
The tax forms are very complicated and for those in higher income brackets the forms are often even longer and more complicated.

JMHO

Then those in higher income brackets should pay someone who knows how to complete them properly and honestly.

DH & I do, and we are nowhere near the income bracket of these high-ranking public officials.

 

[Disney Doll]

Sigh. It's hard to lose everything, isn't it conservatives? To be in charge of nothing anymore, and have the Democrats ruling America.

But keep playing with the shiny tax bauble tactic if it makes you feel better.

The rest of us are concerned about moving the country forward, and we'll be working on that.

Good luck with that. Let us know when it starts to move, 'k.

 

[travelbug]

I don't care whose "guy" it is. It is unacceptable from either party for any reason. It is unacceptable from the spouses of people who may be tapped to hold higher offices in this land, because the "office hilder" benefits in some way. There is a question of ethics and integrity, and while I am quite sure there is none of either in Washington DC or in national politics, if President Obama can speak of change, then so can I. Hold our elected officials' feet to the fire as far as their behavior, ethiucs and integrity go. I wouldn't tolerate my husband doing something illegal or unethical. And, quite frankly, I can forgive a "tax preparing error due to complicated tax laws" until you discover or are notified that there has been an error. Then pay your damn taxes. Right then. As soon as you find out. Not umpteen years later when your spouse may be up for a national government appointment or when you get "outed" by the press.

Amen.

 

[Disney Doll]

Yep, we've filed several amended returns over the years as our taxes have gotten more complicated.

Some years it was to get more money back, and some years, it was to pay more money on our taxes.

Again, people who think their taxes are flawless are kidding themselves. Even our expert, tax-enrolled preparers have disagreed on various issues with our taxes.

But, don't you htink that when you foun out that there had been an error, you'd pay your taxes & penalties owed immediately and not wait unti the time came in your life that it was going to be an embarrassment not to have paid?

I can give anyone a pass for a mistake. What I can't give them a pass for is not rectifying that mistake as soon as they became awar e of it.

 

[minnie61650]

So you are presuming that Ms.Solis doesn't benefit at all from the income from her husband's business? They keep all their finances completely separate so that she in now way benefitted from having that extra money that he didn't pay in taxes sitting in an account earning interest??

I find that hard to believe.

Well, my sister and her husband keep all their finances completely separate.

She has her money and he has his, he buys his car ,she buys hers, they each pay their own bills and the split in half the bills for their joint property such as the house payments ,utility bills and anything else. that falls in that category.

To me that is highly unusual but they got maried later in life and my sis was set her ways.

BTW:

Now in my case , DH owns his own company and although I have no business interest in the company DH buys the houses, cars, pays the bills that we create, etc. that we share so I do benefit from his business.

I tell my sis I have the better deal since I have my own money and I have DH's money as well!

 

[Deb in IA]

 

[LivelyLissa]

We should just move to a flat national sales tax. Everyone gets taxed the same....no paperwork.

All of these tax problems illustrate that the code is way to complex.