Personal tax issues for Tim Geithner................(no, it's not a link because I wanted JUST this specific paragraph........so Dave shouldn't bitch!)
At the Senate confirmation hearings, it was revealed that Geithner had not paid $35,000 in self-employment taxes for the years 2001–2004.[SUP][27][/SUP] The International Monetary Fund (IMF), an international agency and his employer during the time in question, did not withhold Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax, but instead reimbursed the usual employer responsibility of 50% of these taxes to employees who were subject to the taxes. Geithner had received the reimbursements and paid the amounts received to the government, but had not paid the other 50% which would normally have been withheld from his pay. This failure to pay was noted during a 2006 audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in which Geithner was assessed additional taxes of $14,847 for the 2003 and 2004 tax years. The statute of limitations had expired for 2001 and 2002, and Geithner did not file amended returns or pay the additional amounts due for those years until after Obama expressed his intent to nominate Geithner to be Secretary of the Treasury.[SUP][28][/SUP][SUP][29][/SUP][SUP][30][/SUP] He also deducted the cost of his children's sleep-away camp as a dependent care expense, when only expenses for day care are eligible for the deduction.[SUP][30][/SUP] Geithner subsequently paid the IRS the additional taxes owed,[SUP][31][/SUP] and was charged $15,000 interest, but was not fined for late payment.[SUP][32][/SUP]
In a statement to the Senate Finance Committee, Geithner called the tax issues "careless", "avoidable" and "unintentional" errors, and he said he wanted to "apologize to the committee for putting you in the position of having to spend so much time on these issues".[SUP][31][/SUP] Geithner testified that he used TurboTax to prepare his 2001 return, but that the tax errors were his own responsibility.[SUP][33][/SUP][SUP][34][/SUP] The Obama campaign stated that Geithner was advised by his accountant that he did not owe any taxes beyond those assessed by the IRS following the 2006 audit.[SUP][35][/SUP] Geithner said at the hearing that he had always believed he was an employee, not a self-employed contractor, while serving at the IMF.[SUP][36][/SUP]