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Bill Gates too rich for tax computer
Agence France Presse
| February 1, 2006
Posted on 01/31/2006 7:56:05 PM PST by HAL9000
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the world's richest man, said today the tax office in the US has to store his financial data on a special computer because his fortune is so vast. "My tax return in the United States has to be kept on a special computer because their normal computers can't deal with the numbers," he said at a Microsoft conference held in Lisbon.
"So I am constantly getting these notices telling me I haven't paid something when really it is just on the wrong computer," he added in comments broadcast on television.
"Then they will send me another notice telling me how bad they feel they that they sent me a notice that was a mistake," he said
Gates's fortune is put at $47 billion, according to the latest list of the world's rich published by Forbes magazine.
Last month Time magazine named Gates and his wife Melinda, along with rock star Bono, its Persons of the Year for 2005, citing their charitable work and activism aimed at reducing global poverty and improving world health.
The couple's Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has a $29 billion endowment making it the world's biggest charity.
TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: billgates; billionaires; gates; irs; microsoft; overflow; taxes
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1
posted on
01/31/2006 7:56:07 PM PST
by
HAL9000
To: HAL9000
2
posted on
01/31/2006 7:56:37 PM PST
by
cyborg
(I just love that man.)
To: HAL9000
Only problem is, the computer runs on Linux.
3
posted on
01/31/2006 7:57:40 PM PST
by
SamAdams76
(Blizzard coming to Northeast U.S.)
To: HAL9000
I hate that guy, bet they use a linux sustem.
4
posted on
01/31/2006 7:57:49 PM PST
by
359Henrie
To: HAL9000
I feel his pain, my name is on all of the computers evidently.
To: SamAdams76
I'll speculate that the IRS does their calculations in binary-coded decimal - on a mainframe.
Exxon probably has a special computer at the IRS too.
6
posted on
01/31/2006 8:00:07 PM PST
by
HAL9000
(Get a Mac - The Ultimate FReeping Machine)
To: HAL9000
Sigh, I have the same problem.
7
posted on
01/31/2006 8:02:43 PM PST
by
Lorianne
To: HAL9000
Does Gates pay tax on his wealth? That is the vast amount, after all. I didn't think his income was vast as well.
8
posted on
01/31/2006 8:03:52 PM PST
by
Nomorjer Kinov
(If the opposite of "pro" is "con" , what is the opposite of progress?)
To: HAL9000
"My tax return in the United States has to be kept on a special computer because their normal computers can't deal with the numbers," he said at a Microsoft conference held in Lisbon. If he laughed and waved a cigar when he said it I might like him better.
9
posted on
01/31/2006 8:03:56 PM PST
by
Tribune7
To: HAL9000
"I'll speculate that the IRS does their calculations in binary-coded decimal - on a mainframe. "
Yep Think bigger than a PC. I am sure the taxes Bill pays would probably more than pay for that mainframe.
10
posted on
01/31/2006 8:03:57 PM PST
by
Syntyr
(Food for the NSA Line Eater -> "terrorist" "bomb" "plot" "kill" "overthrow" "coup de tas")
To: cyborg
Bet they do it on a mac. If it was XP, he probably wouldn't be paying a nickle :-)
11
posted on
01/31/2006 8:05:21 PM PST
by
Tribune7
To: Tribune7
12
posted on
01/31/2006 8:06:51 PM PST
by
cyborg
(I just love that man.)
To: HAL9000
Poor guy. What can I say? Life isn't fair.
To: HAL9000
14
posted on
01/31/2006 8:10:45 PM PST
by
txhurl
(Gingrich/North '08 although I would like to have Powell if he'd straighten up)
To: HAL9000; Rose in RoseBear
"My tax return in the United States has to be kept on a special computer because their normal computers can't deal with the numbers,""Boy, that water sure is cold!"
"Yeah, and it's deep, too!"
15
posted on
01/31/2006 8:11:29 PM PST
by
Bear_in_RoseBear
(The only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.)
To: HAL9000
Wonder whether that is what happens when you are a Dem and have a margin of roughly 30% rather than the modest margin of 7-10% those horridly "rich" oil men at Exxon produce even when oil is so scarce as to be earning top prices.
16
posted on
01/31/2006 8:13:39 PM PST
by
Spirited
To: HAL9000
I have the same problem. OK, I don't.
17
posted on
01/31/2006 8:23:45 PM PST
by
CAWats
(And I will make no distinction between terrorists and the democrats.)
To: HAL9000
An AS400 E-Series should be able to handle the processing and thoughput.
18
posted on
01/31/2006 8:26:41 PM PST
by
Cobra64
To: cyborg
Bet they do it on a mac.
Why go to that expense when there are perfectly good Fisher-Price systems available that do the same thing.
From 3.1 to Vista, it is a Windows world and like it or not, it's going to stay that way.
I'll bet Steve Jobs IRS data doesn't require a seperate computer, eh? ;)
19
posted on
01/31/2006 8:28:05 PM PST
by
mkjessup
("Hi, I'm Ted Kennedy speaking on behalf of Xanax. With a Chivas Regal chaser, it's GREAT!")
To: txflake
Depends on the software Data Dictionary and field definitions.Computers don't care. They do what they are programmed to do. I've worked on systems that go to 15 deci for a paper company that accounts for .00000005 piece of paper when shipping truckloads of reams of paper. And that was in 1992.
20
posted on
01/31/2006 8:33:31 PM PST
by
Cobra64
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