Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Obama's Trade Rep Pick Owes Almost $10,000 In Taxes

From CNN.com:

Former Dallas, Texas, Mayor Ron Kirk, who is President Obama's nominee to be the U.S. trade representative, owes nearly $10,000 in taxes. He's the fourth Obama pick that has come under fire for tax issues.

Kirk's tax returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007 were reviewed by the Senate Finance Committee as part of the vetting process, according to a report released by the committee Monday.

The committee found that Kirk failed to report as income $37,750 in honoraria collected for 16 speaking engagements at Austin College over those three years. One year, he deducted honoraria from four events as charitable donations though he hadn't reported them as income, according to the committee report.

He also deducted too much for the cost of tickets to see the NBA Mavericks, reporting the entire $17,382 as business expenses, the report says.

Kirk has agreed to pay the $9,975 he owes from amended returns, according to the report.

"The mayor is working with the Finance Committee on a few minor issues," White House spokesman Ben Labolt said, adding that the "nomination is on track."