Tax troubles for president's chief of staff

wnd ^

[dascallie]

Tax troubles for president's chief of staff

Emanuel's rent-free Washington residence draws questioning

February 17, 2009 9:47 pm Eastern

© 2009 WorldNetDaily

There could be tax troubles on the horizon for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who reportedly has lived rent-free in Washington for five years but hasn't paid taxes on the imputed income from that, according to reports.

He's the latest in a growing list of President Obama's nominees to have been involved in tax issues, according to those tabulating the tally in Washington.

According to WND columnist Phyllis Schlafly, several of "Obama's major nominees are mired in political embarrassment. Three withdrew their names from consideration, one sneaked through confirmation because senators were still intoxicated with the Obama honeymoon, and Obama plans to use a waiver so the Senate will approve the fifth."

"Funny thing," she continued, "Americans don't seem to like it when government officials evade the taxes the rest of us pay, especially when they evade more taxes than most Americans' entire tax bill. Apparently, that doesn't seem to bother Obama."

[Portnoy]

“A democratic government is the only one in which those who vote for a tax can escape the obligation to pay for it.”

Alexis de Tocqueville

[Tenniel2]

Exactly. Here's how it works:

Assume you own your house -- fully paid for, no mortgage, no obligations apart from property taxes. Now assume that a comparable house in a comparable neighborhood could be rented for X dollars/month. Because you're enjoying the benefit of such a property but aren't paying rent, according to the "imputed income" fairytale you owe taxes on the X dollars/month you're not paying.

Clever, isn't it??

[Dixie Yooper]

My employer provides me with space to work, a desk, computer and electricity to use in order to get my work done. Do I owe taxes for this?

[TomHarkinIsNotFromIowa]

And why are banks failing? And why are they in such a hurry to dig them out?

Just follow the money.

[silverleaf]

this was posted as a topic last fall, before the election
It was alleged from looking at property tax records that Rahm was not paying property taxes
The City of Chicago said that yes he was, on an empty lot next door to his tax exempt HQ “house” but provided no public information
It was fishy but of course there was no cooperation from the city of Chicago to confirm what was going on
Maybe someone can reference the thread
An IRS audit of Mr Rahm’s tax shelters would be interesting

Godsakes- is there any rich democrat in this adminstration who PAYS THEIR TAXES????

[Sunshine Sister]

Are the income tax rules stupid and arbitrary.....yes. But the rules are the rules. If I have to obey them then so does the presidents staff.

[umgud]

Who paid the rent for 5 years?

[all the best]

Rep. Rosa deLauro and her husband pollster Stan Greenberg to whom Rahm threw lots of business.

[Larry Lucido]

Yep. I want everyone who has ever resided in a rent-controlled apartment, or who ever used a coupon to buy something, to pay taxes on ALL imputed income retroactively.

[Ben Hecks]

The investigation of Rham’s paying taxes ought to go back to Chicago and re-examine Rahm’s designation of his house there as the HQ for a tax exempt organzation.

Agree. That's the real issue. If he chooses to live with the lovely Rosa DeLauro while in D.C., that's his business but the Chicago deal is tax evasion.

[cookcounty]

Hey. How come I don’t know any ladies that would let me stay at their place free for 5 years?

[evad]

Exactly. Here's how it works: Assume you own your house -- fully paid for, no mortgage, no obligations apart from property taxes. Now assume that a comparable house in a comparable neighborhood could be rented for X dollars/month. Because you're enjoying the benefit of such a property but aren't paying rent, according to the "imputed income" fairytale you owe taxes on the X dollars/month you're not paying.

Well, not exactly, if I understand your example. There are plenty of people who own their houses who do not pay "imputed income".

[mad_as_he$$]

Maybe.

[RGSpincich]

RE does not own the house. And I have never heard of a person being burdened with imputed income on a house that he bought and paid for as a personal residence.

[cookcounty]

"Rahm’s designation of his house there as the HQ for a tax exempt organzation.

"And also reexamine his payments for his kids school tuition as contributions to a religious organization."

Is this speculation on your part, or do you have a link?

[silverleaf]

hidden way in past freeper threads of last fall, too lazy to go dig it up

[Ditto]

Never in my imagination would I ever expect to defend the Rahmster, but, “imputed income”? WTF?

Same story with Daschel. They were both on the take from big time lobbyists. They just didn't take cash. Free housing, especially in a high price area like DC is a pretty good deal.

I count that as income.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Never in my imagination would I ever expect to defend the Rahmster, but, “imputed income”? WTF?

---

I oppose the income tax, but whether one is paid for one’s labor in dollars, gold dubloons, bunny rabbits, vacations, or housing shouldn’t matter.

[cookcounty]

Has anybody else noticed that the formerly very visible Rahm Emmanuel has been pretty much invisible since the tax issues started popping up?

And is it not true that he's in charge of vetting? Maybe all this nominee tax-cheating got by him because he sees it as "everybody does it."

[Mr Rogers]

When someone lets a person live rent free for 5 years in a townhouse that could be rented out for 3K/month, and that person steers government money to the person letting them live rent-free...that is close enough to real money coming in that I have no heartburn with taxing it. We’re talking 150-250K that Rahm didn’t need to spend. No wonder he’s a multi-millionaire based on ‘public service’.

Odd, but 25 years in the USAF sure didn’t make me a millionaire. Maybe if I had been a democrat the whole time, and on the take from Lockheed & others...