More Tax Challenges for Cabinet

[Isabelle Warwicke]

Tom Daschle forgot to pay his taxes (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/30/white-house-daschle-tax-issues-shouldnt-bar-cabinet-confirmation/)too.

The Democratic Party rallies (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/30/tom-daschle-tax-problem_n_162708.html) behind him. "Tom identified and self-disclosed his oversight."

*ahem* The oversight was to the tune of $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest for a three year bill of $250,000 for a car and driver that he didn't think fell under income. You think he would have noticed before he was nominated for the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

I pay my taxes every year. How does anyone FORGET? to pay their taxes? Don't these people have staff and accountants to remind them and make sure there are no mistakes? Daschle makes nearly $1,000,000 in speaking fees and consulting alone. He should be able to aford a decent accountant. Really.

[Isabelle Warwicke]

At least he owned up an paid the bill in full (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/31/us/politics/31daschle.html?hp).

Still...

[daBaroness]

:roll: ::poop:: ::doh::

[Ravin' Raven]

Personally I think the whole lot of 'em shoud lbe audited every year - complete and open disclosure if you are in the cabinet or the Congress.

Bunch of Yahoos* all of 'em...even the ones I like I'm sure deep down are Yahoos.


* Jonathon Swift's definition.....

[KissMeKate]

I'm sure he does have an accountant, but perhaps he needs an honest one. Not one who says, you know, you can put this in offshore accounts and not claim it, or you don't have to claim it if no one looks for it.

[RichardMacHugely]

Tom Daschle forgot to pay his taxes too. . . . . . You think he would have noticed before he was nominated for the Secretary of Health and Human Services.




In all fairness to Mr. Daschle, he DID notice a potential problem with the car service BEFORE he was nominated. He first asked his tax attorney about it last June. In December he was informed that he would have to pay taxes, so he filed an amended return in the first week of January. This all happened BEFORE his nomination.

The interesting thing here is that Daschle WAS using tax accountants and tax attorneys all along. Apparently they didn't catch it either, and may not even have looked at the free car service as "income" until Daschle asked them to.

[Phoenix McHeit]

* Jonathon Swift's definition.....

:hearts: Brain-crush!

[Ravin' Raven]

:hearts: Brain-crush!

aw shucks....

(ever wonder if that's why it's called "Yahoo!!!")

[Isabelle Warwicke]

The interesting thing here is that Daschle WAS using tax accountants and tax attorneys all along. Apparently they didn't catch it either, and may not even have looked at the free car service as "income" until Daschle asked them to.

Maybe he should just ask the Wall Street Journal to do his taxes then. If journalists can figure it out, then a highly paid tax attourney familiar with federal tax laws, as a career, should have.

Source Here. (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123350459826036791.html) Brakets and underlining is mine.

Committee staff still is reviewing whether travel and entertainment services provided to the Daschles by EduCap, Inc., Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, Academy Achievement, and Loan to Learn should be reported as income.

People familiar with Mr. Daschle's case said the question involves two flights he took aboard EduCap's corporate jet to vacation destinations to speak with members of the board of directors of the Academy of Achievement, a [loosely] related organization.

Under federal tax law, individuals involved with a charity aren't allowed to take anything of personal value from the charity that isn't connected to the charity's core mission.

The Finance Committee staff is trying to determine whether those flights had a legitimate charitable purpose and whether Mr. Daschle's presence on board could be justified as a charity project.

[Also] EduCap also faces a separate Finance Committee probe into whether the charity, which has spent money on an expensive jet, it abused its status as a charity.

Apart from the EduCap issue, questions have come up over three tax issues involving Mr. Daschle: access to a car and driver provided by private-equity firm InterMedia Advisors LLP, valued at $255,256, that went unreported on his taxes between 2005 and 2007; $83,333 in consulting-service income from InterMedia that went unreported in 2007; and improper deductions for contributions to a foster-care charity.

So he fixed the car and driver issue early. He now has two more "blips" to repair. He attourneys and accountants "missed" or neglected three separate items over the course of three years. Time for a new firm, Mr. Daschle.

Oh and may I add my umbrage that the Senator's tax oopsies add up to more than 7 times my annual salary. :thumbsdo: He screws up his taxes more than I make in almost a decade.

[Isabelle Warwicke]

In all fairness to Mr. Daschle...

And another thing, in all fairness...

When did he find the time to actually BE a Senator between all these trips, meetings, vacations, consultations, and speaking gigs? $1,000,000 in fees and payments must take up alot of his time. Perhaps if our Senators spent more time doing the jobs they were elected to do, perhaps we would have more solutions to the issues in our country.

I work one paid job that monopolizes my time and have little time to dedicate to much else. I make far less than the Senator. The disparity is disheartening.

[Phoenix McHeit]

Perhaps if our Senators spent more time doing the jobs they were elected to do, perhaps we would have more solutions to the issues in our country.



::yay::

[Isabelle Warwicke]

::yay::

Thank you. *takes bow*

[Isabelle Warwicke]

Pulled from Jezebel and Gawker: (http://gawker.com/5145426/tom-daschle-driven-out-of-town)

Tom Daschle (http://gawker.com/tag/tom-daschle/) has dropped his bid to become Secretary of Health and Human Services after not paying taxes for a car and driver. He must be flashing back to his campaign ad from 1986.

In his first campaign for Senate, Daschle, then a member of the House of Representatives, mocked the "BMWs and limos" of Washington, D.C. and touted the 1971 Pontiac he drove to work.

Daschle must surely miss that Pontiac now. It's not clear when, exactly, he retired it. But in explaining the unpaid taxes that derailed his appointment to Obama's cabinet, he cited how he grew used to having a car and driver as Senate majority leader, and didn't realize he'd have to pay taxes when he left office and a consulting firm extended him the same perk.

Since he was the guy who'd fix health care, it looked like Democrats could stomach Daschle's tax problems. But when Nancy Killefer withdrew from being named "performance czar" over less than $1000 in unpaid taxes, the $140,000 that Daschle owed only looked that much worse. But the scandal was never about the taxes. It was always about that car and driver: an extravagance out of step with the times (http://gawker.com/5144360/scandal-tom-daschle-is-rich).

It is the classic Washington tale of the outsider becoming an insider — the most perfect parody of a limousine liberal. He went so far inside that he must now remain outside. Daschle, an out-of-touch millionaire, has been driven out of town by his car and driver.

[wendyzski]

To be honest, I think this says more about how unnecessarily complex out tax code is than anything else.

I would not have assumed that a friend loaning you their car and driver would be classified as "income". Apparently neither did Daschle's accountant!

The US tax code is cripplingly complicated, and I have little difficulty imagining that things like this are "honest mistakes". You get audited, and if it turns out you owe, you pay up. It happens all the time.

I got audited 2 years ago because apparently someone at the IRS missed the little "corrected" box on a 1099, and insisted that I had made twice as much self-employment income as I declared. Sent in my copies, and got Josie to send in hers, and they eventually shut up and went away. This was a simple mistake on THEIR part and it still took months of official-looking letters to sort out.

[devlyn]

I think they should just spend some time auditing all the government officials. They can clean house in DC before bothering the rest of us. Better return for their money too.

Start at the top, work your way down.

Why bother people making less than 20K a year when you can make 6 times that just collecting back taxes? This could pay for the bail out! lol

[Gellis Indigo]

I think they should just spend some time auditing all the government officials. They can clean house in DC before bothering the rest of us. Better return for their money too.

Start at the top, work your way down.

Why bother people making less than 20K a year when you can make 6 times that just collecting back taxes? This could pay for the bail out! lol


What a fabulous idea! If only it would happen.

[Cyranno DeBoberac]

And to his credit, Obama has been giving interviews, saying, amongst other things, "I'm here on television saying I screwed up, and that's part of the era of responsibility. It's not never making mistakes; it's owning up to them and trying to make sure you never repeat them and that's what we intend to do."

(Link to article with video: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/comments/1779622.aspx )

Wow, personal responsibility, what a concept! Did we ever hear anything even vaguely resembling the above quote from the previous President?