Wednesday, December 30, 2009
TurboTax, Geithner Edition
Following up on my January post, Geithner Blames Turbo Tax For His Tax Troubles:
Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner implied at his confirmation hearing that the mistakes in his tax returns were caused by his use of the TurboTax software program. Of course, as any tax professional knows, TurboTax (and any of the other leading software programs) easily calculates self-employment tax (as well as the disallowance of a dependent care deduction for the cost of your kids' overnight camps). The errors here were entirely Geithner's, not TurboTax's.
Mary O'Keeffe (Union College) provides screenshots showing that TurboTax has changed its tax preparation software for 2009 to prompt those working for an international organization like the IMF to report their self-employment income and pay self-employment taxes:
TurboTax Used by Geithner
2009 TurboTax
Clicking on the "Explain This" link generates this explanation:
(Hat Tip: Joe Kristan.)
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2009/12/turbotax.html
Comments
Looks like you're up for an audit.
Seriously, I've been hearing some strange rumors in DC about considerations in their new "rich guy audit unit."
Posted by: Some Law Talking Guy | Dec 30, 2009 5:34:57 PM
Wouldn't it have been simpler if the fourth check box down read, "Is your name Tim Geithner?"
Posted by: AnonymousSoNotAudited | Dec 30, 2009 2:42:33 PM
For the rest of us, there's Turbo Share (from www.thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=3026 -- scroll down ).
Posted by: anonymous taxpayer | Dec 30, 2009 2:20:59 PM
Next update for Timmy is hardware: a calculator with only 12 digits, to prevent further trillion dollar bailouts for his Wall Street buds.
Posted by: Duke | Dec 30, 2009 1:11:13 PM
There are no changes to the instructions that cannot be misunderstood by an idiot. or a crook.
Posted by: Georg Felis | Dec 30, 2009 1:10:17 PM
The checks Geitner received for those payments are issued with the words: TAX ACCOUNT stamped on them.
A lengthy explanation and forms goes with them. The employee cannot NOT know.
Posted by: anon | Dec 30, 2009 8:53:00 PM