The Caucus links to tax-related websites where tax attorneys have been pointing out problems with Sarah & Todd Palins’ tax returns:
One big issue that tax attorneys are pointing to is the fact that the Palins did not report as income the $43,490 that the state gave the family to cover travel expenses for Mr. Palin and the Palin children. Had the Palins reported these payments as income, the couple would have had to pay taxes on it.
These tax attorneys note that neither Mr. Palin nor the children were employees of the state. Nor were they traveling on behalf of the state. There was some discussion that perhaps some portion of Mr. Palin’s travel expenses might be excludable as income if there was a bona-fide business reason for his presence and if he assisted Mrs. Palin in her official duties.
But there was also uniform agreement that it would be hard to make a case for the not reporting the payments to the children as income.
There are other questions too. The upshot: the Palins probably owe some on their taxes. The biggest question is, just how much.
