DEOP's Blog

For the 2007 tax year, Todd Palin......claimed a $9,639 loss from his racing…..said Sheldon Cohen, IRS commissioner in the Johnson administration. "They are milking every possible deduction. They have a right to, if it's legitimate. The question is, is he in the racing business or is it a hobby?"

……However, when they filed their taxes last month, dated Sept. 3, their tax liability turned out to be $24,738 — meaning they owed an additional $2,017. IRS rules require that when a taxpayer files for an extension in April, all outstanding taxes must be paid at that time. When asked if the Palins had paid any interest or penalties, and if so, how much, Maria Comella, a McCain-Palin spokeswoman, said the couple had paid "at least $2,017," and that the campaign was researching if an additional payment had been made.

On their tax returns, the Palins said they donated $8,105 to charity over the two years. The bulk of the donations came in "gifts by cash or check" — $4,250 in 2006 and $2,500 last year. Comella said the Palins gave the money to local churches, but she would not elaborate.

The Palins made noncash charitable contributions, claiming "thrift store value" of $825 for a Dec. 31, 2007, donation to the Salvation Army of Wasilla. The column used to describe the donated items states only "Wasilla Alaska." When asked to explain, Comella said, "I believe this is actual things that were part of their property — furniture, clothing and so forth. That was generally what they donated."

Cohen said it was fine for the state of Alaska to determine it was OK to reimburse Palin to work out of her home, but the state's decision didn't mean those benefits were not taxable by the federal government. "One has nothing to do with the other," said Cohen.

FROM: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gp77q25DPCEibEdOBHWi
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The documents indicated that Palin did not report as 2007 income the $17,000 that she received in per diem payments from the state of Alaska for days that she worked out of her home in Wasilla, rather than at the state Capitol in Juneau.

"What jumps out to me in this tax return," said Robert S. McIntyre, director of the Citizens for Tax Justice, a labor-backed group, "is that the $17,000 in per diems is not there, and it should have been."

The McCain campaign said these payments are not taxable income, a position that has been questioned by tax experts.

The McCain campaign has been under pressure to release Palins' tax returns after the Obama campaign released 10 years of the returns of Sen. Joe Biden, Obama's running mate.

The tax returns were supposed to be released Monday but were delayed until Friday.

From: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/presiden
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The McCain-Palin campaign had said the tax returns would be released Monday, but it suddenly put them out Friday afternoon — a time long used by government to reveal embarrassing news because few people watch TV or read newspapers Friday evening and Saturday.

From: http://news.aol.com/elections/article/palins-recent-tax
-returns-released/200067?icid=200100397x1210936459x1200
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Something I found interesting on these returns is the business mileage that Todd claimed for his self-employment. For the various vehicles used he claims mileage of: 2007 = 800, 1500, 800, & 5000 miles & for 2006 = 1000, 500, & 800 miles.

In fact one of the supporting schedules for the 2007 return shows business mileage claimed on 1 of the vehicles from 1999 to 2006 as: 800, 800, 800, 800, 1500, 900, 900, & 500.

The odds that all his vehicles ended up with these nice round numbers are slim at best. So the question becomes - what other numbers on these tax returns are made up?

There are other items that accountants should have a field day with (unless the Friday afternoon release trick worked) such as recaptured depreciation on sold assets not being accounted for on the 2007 tax return therefore understating 2007 taxable income.

No wonder the Palins only released 2 years of their tax returns like John McCain did.