Taxes
Ouch. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and George Voinovich, R-Ohio, are going after Rafael Borras, President Obama's nominee to be Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Management for mistakes made two years in a row on his tax filing. Collins said:
What concerns me is a pattern of carelessness here. You have been nominated for a job that is enormously complex, and is going to require great managerial experience and great attention to detail. We could spend hours to you talking about the management challenges. If there was just one incident or one form overlooked, I could understand. Anyone can make a mistake. But I'm concerned about a record of significant lapses with regard to your taxes. If there are extenuating circumstances the cmte should be aware of, for example, we had a nominee who was deployed in Iraq at the time he owed some taxes....If there are extenuating circumstances or some justification for this pattern, I need to know it.
Borras responded:
I've filed taxes for over 30 years and had no pattern of making those kinds of mistake. In my 27 years of professional work, there has never been any issue related to attention to detail, anything about my performance that has indicated any level of concern. I have managed successfully very difficult financial situations, I believe with distinction. I have been commended for that. I have never had an investigation that questioned or challenged my financial management....I regret the errors I made in 2006 and 2007.
No matter what you think of Collins' charges or Borras' response, the awkwardness of the whole exchange made me understand more clearly why folks who made even minor errors on their taxes would withdraw from consideration rather than go through this kind of grilling.
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Government Executive Staff Correspondent Alyssa Rosenberg takes a look at news affecting the management and operations of the massive federal bureaucracy.
It really confuses me that the GOP would complain about someone trying to evade taxes...I thought they would bestow the Order of the Bronze Elephant on them or something.
Dahhuh Posted Wednesday, July 29, 2009 9:08 PMThe nominee's tax issues suggest a lack of attention to detail. Personally, I would like the person charged with leading transformation of DHS and improving employee morale to scrutinize information. The questions are appropriate.
Emily Alyson Posted Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:21 PMWith the nominal cost of tax prep software propably most interesting is failure to use a professional tax preparer or tax software. Question is why? Just cheep or lazy or believed no one would notice?
William R. Cumming Posted Thursday, July 30, 2009 5:27 AMAnd as an aside as an Ethics Official for several years and one who cleared for confirmation over 40 appointees a remarkable number had tax problems. Maybe its a qualification for office!
I'm an honest person but made same mistake on my taxes 2 years in a row - had hit the income level where certain things start to phase out and didn't realize it. Got the notices from the IRS, paid the fine & interest and immediately filed an amended return for year 3 where I had once again made the error, because of course the notices about prior years arrived after 15 April. Would like to know what percentage of the Senators prepare their own taxes - let those that don't use an accountant/preparer rail against the errors.
BMP Posted Thursday, July 30, 2009 8:57 AMWhat I find alarming in the number of candidates who have been scrutinized because of tax problems is that no one has even considered that the underlying problem may be the tax code. If it incentivizes breaking the rules people will at all levels of society. Wouldn't it be a better use of our legistlators time to fix the #%@^#$ tax code so anyone can do them with out complex software or an accountant? The politicalization of our tax system leads many otherwise honest people to be alleged dishonest people merely by trying to do their taxes. If the tax code were flattened into specific graduated rates based on gross income without deductibles and loop holes there would more honest people out there, more tax dollars available, and the IRS could become nothing more than a conduit to the national treasury eliminating billions in expenses to the tax payer.
Maverick Posted Thursday, July 30, 2009 11:08 AMwho does this guy think he is a congressman or senator
dan m ketter Posted Thursday, July 30, 2009 7:06 PMJust what mistake was made? I did a Google search ("Rafael Borras" tax) and could not find an explanation of what happened. I think the nature of the mistake matters a lot.
wallyp Posted Friday, July 31, 2009 7:16 AM