Taxing Questions

I stay as far away from the taxman as possible.

I am self-employed and like Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner, I “self-prepared” my tax returns. But unlike Geithner, I think it's outrageous that he failed to pay self-employment taxes between 2001 and 2004.

It’s also outrageous to claim that Geithner, who would be in charge of the IRS, merely made “an innocent mistake.” If I were you (or Joe the Plumber), I wouldn’t try it at home.

Robert Gibbs, incoming White House press secretary, released a statement:

The President-elect chose Tim Geithner to be his Treasury Secretary because he’s the right person to help lead our economic recovery during these challenging times. He’s dedicated his career to our country and served with honor, intelligence and distinction. That service should not be tarnished by honest mistakes, which, upon learning of them, he quickly addressed. He made a common mistake on his taxes, and was unaware that his part-time housekeeper’s work authorization expired for the last three months of her employment. We hope that the Senate will confirm him with strong bipartisan support so that he can begin the important work of the country.

Will the IRS be as forgiving to hard-pressed Americans who “underpay” their taxes until they’re audited? Will the taxman waive the penalties for filers who can’t scrape together the cash to pay their taxes on time?

If the Senate confirms Geithner, it would be far from President-elect Barack Obama's promise that “change has come to America.”

After the Roland Burris fiasco, one has to question whether the rule of law means anything to federal lawmakers.

My bad. Geithner is no ordinary Joe. He’s a member of the club. And Leona Helmsley did tell us, “Only the little people pay taxes.”