Geithner Was Reimbursed By Government For Taxes He Forgot To Pay

He did remember to cash his reimbursement checks, though.

So that's something. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy.

IMF employees were expected to pay their taxes out of their own money. But the IMF then gave them an extra allowance, known as a “gross-up,” to cover those tax payments. This was done in the Annual Tax Allowance Request, in which the employee filled out some basic information — marital status, dependent children, etc. — and the IMF then estimated the amount of taxes the employee would owe and gave the employee a corresponding allowance.

At the end of the tax allowance form were the words, “I hereby certify that all the information contained herein is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and that I will pay the taxes for which I have received tax allowance payments from the Fund.” Geithner signed the form. He accepted the allowance payment. He didn’t pay the tax. For several years in a row.

According to an analysis released by the Senate Finance Committee, Geithner “wrote contemporaneous checks to the IRS and the State of Maryland for estimated [income] tax payments” that jibed exactly with his IMF statements. But he didn’t write checks for the self-employment tax allowance.

Even the NYT pretends to be bothered:

Today, in a time of economic peril, the nation cannot afford a Treasury secretary with a tainted ability to command respect and instill confidence.

Republicans meanwhile are intent on confirming him, labeling him the best possible (i.e., least socialist) Treasury Secretary the Obama Administration could nominate.

I doubt that. Try again.

posted by Ace at 12:08 PM

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