I'll try the "Turbotax Defense" the next time I have to deal with the IRS. This ranks right up there with the "Dog ate my homework"

Maybe, next time, Timothy Geithner should pay an accountant. Or take a simple computer course.

Geithner, President Obama's choice to run the U.S. Treasury and spearhead America's recovery from its financial crisis, is well on his way to being confirmed after the Senate Finance Committee voted 18-5 Thursday to forward his nomination to the full Senate.

But the endorsement came only after he underwent embarrassing scrutiny for his failure to pay all of his income taxes in 2001 and 2002 -- a mistake he blamed on an easy-to-use computer income tax program used by 18 million taxpayers a year.

Geithner said he used the popular software program TurboTax to complete his income tax forms in those two years, and he failed to include self-employment taxes in his federal returns.



He said that, to his recollection, the program did not prompt him to report income and pay self-employment taxes.

"I mistakenly believed that I was meeting my obligations fully, including self-employment taxes, but I did not prepare my returns in a way that caught that mistake initially," Geithner told the committee, adding, "these are my responsibility, not the tax software responsibility."

But TurboTax itself says the program is designed for average taxpayers and prompts everyone to report any additional income or wages earned through self-employment.

"The way TurboTax works, we ask you your personal information up front" and "walk you down an interview path that asks you the source of your income," said Scott Gulbransen, a spokesman for TurboTax. Even if you fill out a W2 tax form from a primary employer, "once you're done with that it will ask you if you had other sources of income," he told FOXNews.com.

"The whole idea of TurboTax is to make sure we have all your information," Gulbransen said.

Intuit, the company that makes the software, estimates that its customers receive tax returns in the hundreds of millions of dollars every year, he said.

"There's a lot of time that's put in to make sure that the product is easy to use for the average American," Gulbransen said. "The numbers speak for themselves."

The tax program -- now in its 25th year -- is retooled annually, he said.

"Because the tax laws change every single year, the code, we -- in essence after every tax season -- have to recreate the product from the ground up as far as tax code goes," Gulbransen said. "So from that perspective, we update it every year for not only the federal taxes, but also for each individual state that has income tax."

Dan Maurer, a senior vice president of TurboTax, issued a statement Wednesday saying user input is key.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100...eck-taxes/

He doesn't pay his taxes and he's a LIAR.

Question: has he opened himself to perjury charges? NAW!

Doesn't matter who does his taxes because if he took one look at his gross income he should have known it was wrong. Anyway, the minute he signed it he pledged his return was accurate and honest. He's either dishonest or an idiot.

To clairify my earlier question, are you sworn in and under oath at confirmation hearings? Thus opening yourself to perjury charges. And I do understand if so, he would not be charged in this circumstance.

Liberals are really good at this blame stuff. Just look at what Bill Clinton said, "Oral Sex is not sex." "Depends on what your definition of the word "is" is. Classic. Nobody does it better.

(01-24-2009 09:58 PM)Paul M Wrote:  To clairify my earlier question, are you sworn in and under oath at confirmation hearings? Thus opening yourself to perjury charges. And I do understand if so, he would not be charged in this circumstance.

You are sworn.. but they only time they ever nail you for perjury is if you are Oliver North or Roger Clemens.

The way to phrase your response is "To the best of my recollection, Congressman.... etc" because you are only testifying to the best of your recollection, not making an affirmative representation of fact.

(01-25-2009 07:51 PM)WMD Owl Wrote:  

(01-24-2009 09:58 PM)Paul M Wrote:  And I do understand if so, he would not be charged in this circumstance.

The way to phrase your response is "To the best of my recollection, Congressman.... etc" because you are only testifying to the best of your recollection, not making an affirmative representation of fact.

That's why I made my above statement. "I don't recall Turbo-Tax prompting me" BS. And he's not Oliver.

Thanks for the reply WMD.

(01-24-2009 09:58 PM)Paul M Wrote:  To clairify my earlier question, are you sworn in and under oath at confirmation hearings? Thus opening yourself to perjury charges. And I do understand if so, he would not be charged in this circumstance.

You sign your tax return subject to perjury.

(01-25-2009 10:24 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(01-24-2009 09:58 PM)Paul M Wrote:  To clairify my earlier question, are you sworn in and under oath at confirmation hearings? Thus opening yourself to perjury charges. And I do understand if so, he would not be charged in this circumstance.

You sign you tax return subject to perjury.

I just don't know how they went threw with confirmation hearings after his "failings" came to light. That's not true. I no why. The republicans wouldn't stand up.

These are the same guys (and gals) that put Paulson in charge of dispersing $350 billion dollars, then one week after they gave him authority, he failed to implement any oversight as required, and changed the way he originally purposed of buying up toxic debt to propping up the companies stock. On top of that he decided which companies would survive and which would not, allowing the companies that got the bailout money to be used to purchase other companies that did not. My point is that these people are not concerned about the best interests of the people.

So a guy that can't figure out turbo tax and then doesn't pay his taxes accurately is running the part of our country that deals in Money, Money, and Money during one of the biggest economic messes in US history. Boy, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

(01-25-2009 10:57 PM)Paul M Wrote:  I just don't know how they went threw with confirmation hearings after his "failings" came to light. That's not true. I no why. The republicans wouldn't stand up.

Geithner is effectively a holdover from the Shrub administration.

Suppose the guys in line to replace him if he failed confirmation were socialists and/or communists.

How would you vote under those circumstances?

No.