Tax problems may plague Obama's treasury pick
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Capitol Hill grilling is likely for Timothy Geithner, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the Treasury Department, after public revelations he failed to pay $34,000 in taxes several years ago.
Senate Democrats are pressing to schedule a quick confirmation hearing for Geithner on Friday, hoping to tee up swift approval of his nomination on Inauguration Day. But newly released information about the tax goofs by Geithner, regarded as a brilliant financial markets specialist well-positioned to deal with the nation's considerable economic problems, could complicate the process.
Republicans have yet to sign off on expediting the hearing, although senior Democrats expressed confidence that the disclosures would do little to slow Geithner's path to confirmation. At least one Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, said he had "no problem" with Geithner.
Still, the disclosures virtually guarantee a tough hearing for Geithner before the Senate Finance Committee, which is considering his nomination.
Geithner failed to pay self-employment taxes for money he earned from 2001 to 2004 while working for the International Monetary Fund, according to materials released by the committee Tuesday.
He paid some of the taxes in 2006, after an IRS audit discovered the discrepancy for taxes paid in 2003 and 2004. But it wasn't until much later — days before Obama tapped him to head Treasury late last year — that Geithner paid back most of the taxes, incurred in 2001 and 2002. He did so after Obama's transition team found that Geithner had made the same tax mistake his first two years at the IMF as the one the IRS found he made during his last two years there.
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"These errors were not intentional; they were honest mistakes," -Max Baucus, D-Mont
You know what? Go try telling this to the IRS during an audit, see if it flies for John and Jane America. Unless you are part of the establishment you will have your world ripped apart. "his mistake was a common one for people hired by international organizations and foreign embassies that don't pay the employer share of Social Security taxes"...well not shit, they set the system up so it takes a rocket scientist to fill out anything but the EZ form, why not take this moment to fix the system!
You would have thought those smarter than I would remember Zoe Baird and Kimba Woods; clearly not. Maybe Team Obama is not as sharp as everyone believes.
Scandal Meter : 4 of 10 | The tax code is too confusing for everyone - FIX IT
Stupidity Meter: 7 of 10 | Going to the treasury and still can't get taxed paid correctly +2; Thinking no one would notice the error was corrected just after being nominated +2; Not realizing that the same thing torpedoed 2 Clinton nominees +3
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