Aggregated willful failure to file

[grixit]

Let Geithner do pinata penance. For the next 6 months, any citizen that feels they are the victim of inequity in enforcement may take one big whack.

[Famspear]

......Argh! The Geithner case bothers me.

I also have a problem with this. I actually have not delved into the details of what Geithner knew and didn't know, and what he should have or should not have known.

I must say, however, that every time I see his picture on the news, I get an unsettling feeling. I assume Geithner is a nice guy and a basically honest guy. It's just that having someone in that position (Secretary of the Treasury) who has had the tax problem he has had is, in my view, corrosive with respect to effective tax administration.

[ASITStands]

Let Geithner do pinata penance. For the next 6 months, any citizen that feels they are the victim of inequity in enforcement may take one big whack.

I think he ought to be charged with a crime (penalty) like everyone else.

Or, better yet, stop charging others with crimes (penalties) who've done the same thing.

I'd really like to find a way to invoke the case of Timothy Geithner as reasonable cause. Maybe some of the attorneys here can suggest a way to do just that. Tit for tat.

[Demosthenes]

How far does that "good old boys" network extend? Is it civil only or can someone escape criminal sanctions (or investigation) by being a part? Can someone escape censure?

I've been watching one particular good old boy case for literally almost a decade. Imagine a key DC figure, a republican who held a prominent place in the Clinton administration, who didn't pay any taxes (federal, state, local, corporate, or property) for many years. He has multi-million dollar liens against him and he and his wife make millions each year. I've pitched it to the press but the IRS has apparently given him a pass from criminal prosecution.

[Cpt Banjo]

So why hasn't the press mentioned it?

[Demosthenes]

So why hasn't the press mentioned it?

He's one of them now. The few reporters that were willing to touch the story asked him about his tax problem and he told them that he had a rough couple of years or that the state tax authority had simply made a mistake, and so on. Last time I checked, he and his also famous wife had several liens spanning from 1992 to 2005 outstanding.

It's all public record. I'm referring to Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, of course.

And the title of their most recent book?

"Fleeced: How Barack Obama, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want To Kill Talk Radio, The Do-Nothing Congress, Companies That Help Iran, And Washington Lobbyists For Foreign Governments Are Scamming Us...And What To Do About It"

Here the book's self-decription:

In this hard-hitting call to arms, Dick Morris and Eileen McGann reveal the hundreds of ways American tax-payers are routinely fleeced--by our own government; by foreign countries like Dubai that are gobbling up American interests and spending millions to influence government decisions and American public opinion; by Washington lobbying firms that are pushing the agendas of corrupt foreign dictators on Capitol Hill; and by hedge-fund billionaires collecting huge tax breaks courtesy of the IRS.

[grixit]

Yeah, and if someone should raise an inquiry now, they'll be accused of retaliation.

[Judge Roy Bean]

... So, how's the ordinary person get in this "good old boys" network? ...

Sorry. The average person need not apply.

If you haven't played with muckety yet - beware, it can become addictive:

http://www.muckety.com/Timothy-F-Geithner/2158.muckety
http://www.muckety.com/Rahm-I-Emanuel/1289.muckety
http://www.muckety.com/Tom-Daschle/4400.muckety
http://www.muckety.com/Charles-B-Rangel/189.muckety

[Judge Roy Bean]

How the old boy's network works, Act II of the offshore play:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124209153444209277.html

New IRS guidance has raised questions about whether the agency will continue allowing account holders to simply file amended returns and pay back taxes and fines to avoid heavy penalties for tax evasion. That had been common practice. ... Account holders who are already trying to use the so-called "quiet" approach have until Sept. 23 to make a formal disclosure, which generally starts by having an attorney contact IRS criminal investigation agents.

That had been common practice. Now, however with the boss having gotten through the process unscathed, the rest of you are going to have to make sure you have the right attorney before September 23.

[jcolvin2]

How the old boy's network works, Act II of the offshore play:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124209153444209277.html

New IRS guidance has raised questions about whether the agency will continue allowing account holders to simply file amended returns and pay back taxes and fines to avoid heavy penalties for tax evasion. That had been common practice. ... Account holders who are already trying to use the so-called "quiet" approach have until Sept. 23 to make a formal disclosure, which generally starts by having an attorney contact IRS criminal investigation agents.

That had been common practice. Now, however with the boss having gotten through the process unscathed, the rest of you are going to have to make sure you have the right attorney before September 23.

The practice varied widely from attorney to attorney, and to some extent from district to district. I was never comfortable in attempting to make a "quiet" or "submarine" disclosure, because of the risk that - in some unusual set of circumstances - it wouldn't work (and the amended returns would be used as admissions by CI/DOJ). I guess the "quiet" practitioners will learn how to be as "noisy" as I have been in the past.