Palin Owes back-taxes – what a shock

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/18/ST2009021803325.html

 

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) owes income taxes on nearly $17,000 paid to her as travel reimbursements when she spent nights in her Wasilla residence, according to a state legal opinion that the payments were not legitimate business expenses, a state official said yesterday.

This Story

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During her first 19 months in office, Palin charged the state $16,951 in “per diem” allowances for spending 312 nights in her home. The allowances were intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while she was traveling on state business.

The state this week reversed a policy that had treated the payments as legitimate business expenses under the Internal Revenue Code, said state administrator Annette Kreitzer. Payments to employees charging “per diem” expenses to stay in their own homes will be treated as income subject to taxes, Kreitzer said, and the state will update the employees’ W-2 forms.

Palin’s expenses were reported by The Washington Post last year after the Republican presidential nominee,  Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), named Palin as his running mate. The Post reviewed records from late 2006 through early August 2008, and the story prompted a review by state officials. The governor continued to seek the payments through the end of the year, according to the Anchorage Daily News, which first reported this week that she owed taxes on the payments.