What it with the Obama administration and political appointees who don’t appear to understand the tax law?
From Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on down, an astounding number of President Obama’s picks for top jobs have run into tax problems.
The latest is Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas, President Obama’s nominee for secretary of health and human services, said Tuesday that she and her husband had paid $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest after discovering “unintentional errors” in their tax returns for 2005-7.
Ms. Sebelius said she had erroneously taken tax deductions for certain mortgage interest and several charitable contributions. In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee, Ms. Sebelius said: “In July of 2006, my husband and I sold our home for an amount less than the outstanding balance on our mortgage. We continued paying off the loan, including interest we mistakenly believed continued to be deductible.”
Ms. Sebelius said she had been unable to locate records needed to document three of the 49 charitable contributions she and her husband, Gary Sebelius, had made. She is the latest of several Obama nominees to acknowledge underpaying taxes. Mr. Obama’s first choice for health secretary, Tom Daschle, withdrew after paying $128,203 in back taxes and $11,964 in interest, arising in part from the use of a luxury car and driver.
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