tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post3727336460218545563..comments2024-03-25T07:29:08.216-04:00Comments on 2 Political Junkies: Another Dissipating "Scandal" At The TribMariahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10439330154875628083noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-84728120905717336242010-09-22T11:04:12.097-04:002010-09-22T11:04:12.097-04:00I agree that "there is no there, there."...I agree that "there is no there, there."<br /><br />As I read it, the "senior administration official" said, basically, that lots of large business entities avoid corporate taxes by making use of LLP's, LLC's, and other organizational forms that pass-through their income to owners who then pay taxes. The issue was how the tax code might be broadened to make some of that income taxable to the business, as corporate income is taxable to the corporation.<br /><br />No access to confidential IRS data was needed, to make that statement.<br /><br />The Kochs were used as an example, based on their use of LLC's to avoid corporate taxes. The facts offered were based on publicly available information, and did not require access to IRS records. (Koch Industries contains LLC's, and they make a bunch of money.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8213262.post-31333404596221684502010-09-22T10:43:41.247-04:002010-09-22T10:43:41.247-04:00This is a little tricky in that I suspect the Koch...This is a little tricky in that I suspect the Koch Industries lawyer is correct, revealing specific information about Koch Industries taxes would be illegal. I am not sure about the limits of the law concerning whether <i>administration</i> officials can <i>view</i> Koch business or personal tax information or more specifically under what circumstances they could view that information. <br /><br />But nobody is citing specific numbers, or even saying such numbers are out there. So far all I am seeing is general statements (the Kochs make a lot of money and don't pay much tax). I can where the Kochs are really secretive, and don't like even the hint that their tax information is out there. But it will be harder for the Koch Lawyer to prove anything if no specific numbers have been revealed by the government (and it sounded like, in the Weekly Standard, that the lawyer was already backtracking a little bit, covering himself). <br /><br />The Weekly Standard was fairly slimy in their story, the Trib even more so. You would think grownups would understand the difference news (or reporting the lack of detail) and opinion.EdHeathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09109361235271107574noreply@blogger.com