Palin to pay tax on past per diem

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Anchorage Daily News

Gov. Sarah Palin must pay income taxes on thousands of dollars in expense money she received while living at her Wasilla home, under a new determination by state officials.

The governor's office wouldn't say this week how much she owes in back taxes for meal money, or whether she intends to continue to receive the per diem allowance. As of December, she was still charging the state for meals and incidentals.

"The amount of taxes owed is a private matter," Sharon Leighow, Palin's spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "If the governor collects future per diem, those documents would be a matter of public record."

The revelation about Palin comes as U.S. senators, including Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, are under scrutiny over back taxes. A survey by the political newspaper and Web site Politico (www.politico.com) found that Begich was one of seven senators who acknowledged owing back taxes.



Read more: http://www.adn.com/palin/story/693695.html

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Hah hah!

[nc4bo]

1. Why is the amount a private matter? Her tax evasion as a government official isn't a private.

matter.

Anyone who wants to know should have access to the information, right?

:wtf: :puke:

[RamboLiberal]

2. During the campaign Alaskans found out she took $17,000

for living at home. Some budget hawk!

[nc4bo]

3. Such a scammer - and a bad one at that. Can't even cover her ass properly.

How much taxes do you owe Sarah, hmmm?

[mod mom]

12. I still want to hear more about who built her house (ie Sport Complex Contractors):

Did Sports Complex Contractors Build Palin's House for Free?
by stef

Sat Oct 11, 2008 at 08:52:55 AM PST

The prosecution just rested in the Ted Stevens trial, in which he is accused of accepting $250,000 worth of free renovations to his house from VECO, an oil pipeline company. VECO workers labored for months remodeling Stevens' home at the company's expense.

The Palin's two-story, four bedroom, four bath home on Lake Lucille is worth $552,000. "Todd Palin built the house with friends who were contractors, he said in a recent television interview."

At the same time the mighty Todd was building the house, the Wasilla Sports Complex was under construction right down the road. Just who were these "friends who were contractors" who did such a huge favor for the Palins by building their house for them? Was it payback for the sports complex contracts? Wayne Barrett of the Village Voice asks the question, below the fold.


Wayne Barrett reports that after the $12.5 million Wasilla Sports Complex was approved, the design contract went to architect Blase Burkhart, "son of Roy Burkhart, who is frequently described as a "mentor" of Palin and was head of the local Republican Party." Roy Burkhart was also a Palin campaign contributor. Palin then appointed Blase Burkhart to the builder-selection committee, which awarded the construction contract to "Howdie Inc., a mostly residential contractor owned at the time by Howard Nugent." Nugent was a Palin campaign contributor, also.

-snip

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/11/111018/34/47/627460

[nc4bo]

13. So many questions that will go unanswered with Pandora.

I almost forgot about the magic house. Everything about it dropped out of sight so quickly and it never got much attention except for those nasty, do-nothing bloggers.

I'd like to hear more about it too. This has scandal written all over it.

[biopowertoday]

4. Palin herself asked for the review:

ITs a long story.


.............. The Washington Post published a story in mid-September that said she had charged the state almost $17,000 for meals and incidentals while staying in her own home.

The state considers Juneau, where she lives in the Governor's Mansion, to be Palin's official duty station.

Palin billed the state for 312 nights spent in her Wasilla home during her first 19 months in office, according to the Washington Post. She received $60 a day tax free, money intended to cover meals and incidentals, while traveling on state business, her travel forms show.

"Last fall we raised questions about longstanding practices within the Department of Administration regarding tax treatment of per diem payments," Kreitzer wrote in an exchange of e-mails over the past few days with the Daily News.

"At the Governor's request, we reviewed the situation to determine whether we were in full compliance with the pertinent Internal Revenue Service regulations," Kreitzer wrote. "As a result of this review, we determined that per diem needs to be treated as income, requiring a revision of W-2 forms for any affected employees."..............

[acmavm]

5. Oh, this is funny. "At the Governor's request,..." Only because she got

caught!

[nc4bo]

7. It seems like she was about to be outed anyway so

she opted to be on the offensive rather than risk being on the defensive. It looks so much better that way.

Still, Sarah speaks out of both sides of her mouth and the quicker this tax evasion gets buried and forgotten, the better it is for her.

Apologies in advance for being so bitchy about this.

[CitizenPatriot]

16. after she got busted while running the campaign with daddy

warbucks.

this pisses me off. I get paid per diem for work, and have since I was 22. I have always known the money is only tax free if I spend it on food and travel, and have receipts.

It's very simple, and the laws haven't changed.

Why wouldn't she know that?

[dcindian]

6. How many repukes going to scream about this?

None. Honesty is something only for Democrats not a single MSM will give this more then a minute.

[HopeHoops]

8. Poor baby

[endarkenment]

9. So she should have to resign immediately, right?

isn't that the standard? Or just the standard for Democrats?

[nc4bo]

10. SOP for Dems only, you betcha. nt

[rurallib]

11. Time to have a garage sale! I hear she has some great dresses left over

from a recent campaign.

[zbdent]

14. well thank God she wasn't appointed by Obama ...

imagine the hell she'd have to face for paying her taxes late ...

[Thothmes]

30. you mean like some other Obama appointees.

[JNelson6563]

15. Watch out for that limelight Sarah!

It could shine on places you preferred to remain dark! :toast:

Julie

[CitizenPatriot]

17. it's that there gotcha media at play!

now, per diem laws having not progressed forward she having known this did so violate but found herself innocent

there, also

and then car extraordinary beneift laws, as daschle, those laws there having changed but he is no longer the american people have a right to question, there, also, why he doesn't pay his taxes and just who is tom daschle? is he a real american?

wink wink!

[onehandle]

18. Slow Ahead: Grifter at Work. nt

[rateyes]

19. Pay TAXES on it? They should withhold any future payment of salary

until every last dime is paid back. In effect, the state is increasing her salary. Wanna bet the legislature in Alaska didn't vote to do that?

What a load of shit.

[phillyindependent]

20. Is this really news? Come on now! The article says under..

new determination she now owes taxes on money she received. So ok. She pays them. I personally would not classify this as tax evasion. Also, why are we still talking about Palin? Why is she even relevant to me now? She lost. I will be much happier if i just never hear her name again.

[biopowertoday]

22. Most of the article is about a Dem in the about the same situation. I agree--it was

was a new determination. I think Dems look petty when they jump on stuff like this (IMHO).

[ieoeja]

26. First, I don't see Dems jumping on this. Second, do you think Repubs looked petty?

When they jumped all over a new determination that Daschle should pay taxes on the company car? Or when they jumped all over Geithner learning that he had to pay his employer's share of payroll taxes in addition to the employee's share he had already paid?

This is especially similar to the Daschle situation.

[CitizenPatriot]

27. it's only "new" because during the campaign, when it came to light,

her people announced that they didn't interpret the law to mean she had to pay taxes on per diem, which is utter bs -- and I say that as someone who pays taxes on per diem or collects the necessary receipts!!!

It's not tax evasion when the whole rest of the world knows you have to pay taxes on per diem if you don't produce receipts for the cost of food and taxis because you are in a city for work, instead of AT HOME, which brings to mind the question of why was she getting per diem in the first place?

[RBInMaine]

21. I don't think it's fair to immediately jump to "Tax Evastion" with ANYONE, D or R.

Look folks, these tax situations do get complicated. So I'm going to be non-partisan on this one and say hold your fire until all the facts are in. D's, I's, and R's often have to amend tax returns, end up owing back taxes for all sorts of different reasons, ... They are not all tax frauds. So on this we have to always wait and see. While we still have to be responsible, all kinds of tax errors and oversights occur. (And no, I myself do not owe back taxes.)

[whopis01]

28. This is not a matter of tax evasion - it really is about money she should never have had.

They have effectively given her a back door raise by first paying her travel expenses to live at home, and then turning around and saying - oh, that should not be travel expenses, it is income and having her pay taxes. She should not have gotten any of it to begin with.

[Joanne98]

23. HAHAHA!

[tekisui]

24. 2012.

That is what this tying up loose ends is about.

[Bleacher Creature]

25. Did I miss the part where Obama named her to his cabinet?

I thought that this kind of scrutiny only applied to them.

[LynnTheDem]

29. ANOTHER thing Sarah Palin' and not-Joe The not-Plumber have in common!

Besides both being the dumbest of dumbest MFers on the planet.