This is total B.S. I can only assume they brought these ridiculous charges to try to get this man to "turn" on Trump the way his contemptible former lawyer did.
This is total B.S. I can only assume they brought these ridiculous charges to try to get this man to “turn” on Trump the way his contemptible former lawyer did.
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I think there is something to that. They already handcuffed him and shamed him in public as if he is a criminal.
thats my take
If the IRS believes the underreporting was intentional, then it is fraud. That can be treated criminally and has no statue of limitations.
That said, if a company provides a car for the company’s convenience, or if they provide an apartment in addition to the employee’s regular home for the company’s convenience (so he can work late or start early), then I believe that is NOT income for the employee.
It souonds like there will be a disagreement on the facts. from the article:
“The apartment has been Weisselberg’s primary residence since 2005, and is located on the west side of Manhattan in a building complex previously known as “Trump Place,” though the Trump Corporation did not own the building, prosecutors said....
“Weisselberg spent most of his days each year in New York City, working in the Trump Organization offices at Trump Tower,” the indictment said. “He was a New York City resident, and knew that he was a New York City resident...
After nearly a decade, Weisselberg began paying New York City income taxes in 2013, prosecutors said, only after he sold his home in Wantagh, New York, a seaside town on Long Island.”
So...where did he LIVE? He worked in NYC and that means he owed taxes to NYC, but did he reside at the apartment or at his home in Wantagh?
There are a lot of grey areas in tax law. A preparer is free to use an interpretation favorable to the client as long as it is a reasonable interpretation of what is happening. It may be possible to DISPUTE the interpretation, and if one loses the dispute in tax court, you will owe back taxes and interest. But it is not criminal to work the grey areas.