tax evasion and tax administration in the news

Two interesting items popped up Friday afternoon.

First, it appears that Tim Geithner, current head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is being tapped as Treasury secretary under Obama.  See Jackie Calmes, Geither Said to be Chosen for Treasury, NY Times Politics Blog "The Caucus", Nov. 21, 2008.  I'd say that's a much better outcome than others being suggested (such as Larry Summers, who carries baggage both as a proponent of deregulation of the financial system under Clinton and as a failed Dean at Harvard Law).   The market jumped up almost 500 points on the news, refreshing news after the plunges in recent days to deep bear territory.  Jack Healy, Stocks Soar in Late Afternoon Trading, NY Times, Nov. 21, 2008.

Second, Michael Garcia, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced a plea agreement with hotelier Stanley Tollman.  Tollman pled guilty to a multimillion-dollar tax evasion scheme using foreign bank accounts.  Tollman admitted hiding about $18 million in unreported income in Guersey bank accounts from 1994 to 1999.  He'll pay more than $60 million in back taxes, interest and fraud penalties, and an additional $44 million to settle a separate civil forfeiture action.  Four co-defendants were already convicted in 2004, and Tollman's son also pled guilty to tax evasion, back in 2003. See the DOJ press release (Download Tollman.Plea PR ), Tollman information (Download Tollman. Information ), and Tollman agreement (Download Tollman. Plea Agreement ).

Comments

[peter]

At Harvard, Summers was a victim of hyper-left wing political correctness.

Imagine, he had the audacity to suggest the possibility that women and men have different intellectual capacities.

Off with his head!

The world's foremost institution of higher learning is no place for that kind of thinking.

It's ironic, considering how frequently and stridently the left brags about how open-minded it is.

Pshaw!

[Jeff T]

Like most Americans, I am very concerned about the financial condition of our country. The bailout certainly creates a moral hazard and put enormous downward pressure on the dollar. The taxpayers are the ones absorbing the brunt of all of this. I would like to know what Tim Geithner is going to be able to do to help this situation. Apparently the financial markets feel like he will be able to do something positive. Meanwhile many taxpayers are feeling the pressure of the IRS to collect on any and all outstanding debts they are owed. It seems like the little guys are getting crushed.