California State Senators Tax Scofflaws
Below is a letter to Attorney General Jerry Brown alerting to facts that clearly indicate that state senators are now and have more many years failed to report and/or pay federal and state income tax on the personal income they realized from personal use of state cars and fuel in accordance with the mandates contained in IRS Publication 15-B.
Dave Palmer
The Watchdawg
Email:
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Folsom, California
July 20, 2009
Mr. Jerry Brown
California Attorney General
Re: Legislative Tax Avoidance/Fraud
Dear Mr. Brown:
IRS Publication 15-B (www.ir.sgov/publications/p15b/ar02.html) treats employer provided vehicles (governmental or otherwise) as a fringe benefit. As a result, the IRS mandates that the following records be maintained by the employer and/or that income derived from the personal use of an employer-provided vehicle be reported.
-
Commuting/personal use are considered taxable income
-
Lease Value Rule to be used if government employee is elected official
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Logs differentiating personal vs. official use must be kept
-
Income earned from personal use of vehicle to be reported on annual W-2
Lease Value Rule/Method
The Fair Market Value (FMV) is determined by the amount an employee (legislator) would have to pay to a third party in an arms-length transaction to buy or lease the benefit. The arms-length lease values as determined by the IRS as to tax liability requires that the annual cost of fuel be added to the lease value of the vehicle.
Unbelievably, a spokesman for the Senate Rules Committee recently opined to a reporter that since state legislators pay a minimum of 10% of the monthly lease cost ($35 to $45) that this fact standing along vests them with an ownership interest in the vehicle in question. With all due respect to this spokesperson, I would suggest that in the future when he is purchasing recreational drugs that, he avoid buying them from entrepreneurs that accept “double-off” coupons. This comment is beyond farcical in that the 10% is paid from state-funded budgets provided to legislators.
Of course I suspect that the vast majority of Californians (yourself included) that are required to fund this obscenity would be more than happy to pay $35 or even $45 a month to lease a fully-loaded Lincoln Navigator, Ford Saleen, Cadillac CTX, Ford Mach 1 or a Camaro Z28 convertible that comes along with unlimited fuel, fully paid insurance and maintenance/repairs costs.
Test Boxes 1 (Districts 1 to 20) and 2 (Districts 21 to 40) below sets forth the potential tax liabilities facing state senators, which are as follows:
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$920,456 = potential federal tax liability
-
$275,573 = potential state tax liability
-
$420,000 = estimated interest and penalties
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$1,614,089 = total federal/state tax liability +interest and penalties
Following Text Boxes 1 and 2 are fifty-eight (58) additional text boxes that provide further detail regarding this matter, which are listed by District beginning with District 1 and ending with District 40 (pages 4-19).
Text Box 1
Senate Members – Districts 1 to 20
Name
|
District
|
Federal
|
State
|
Total
|
Rico Oller
|
1st - Roseville
|
$13,248
|
$3,974
|
$17,222
|
Pat Wiggins
|
2nd – Santa Rosa
|
$ 5,227
|
$1,568
|
$ 6,795
|
Wesley Chesbro
|
2nd – Santa Rosa
|
$12,008
|
$3,602
|
$15,610
|
Carole Migden
|
3rd – Frisco
|
$19,932
|
$4,923
|
$24,855
|
John Burton
|
3rd – Frisco
|
$ 5,368
|
$1,611
|
$ 6,979
|
Sam Aanestad
|
4th – Grass Valley
|
$33,505
|
$8,878
|
$42,383
|
Michael Machado
|
5th - Davis
|
$31,400
|
$9,420
|
$40,820
|
Darrel Steinberg
|
6th - Sacramento
|
$ 5,284
|
$1,585
|
$ 6,869
|
Deborah Ortiz
|
6th - Sacramento
|
$19,606
|
$5,882
|
$25,488
|
Tom Torlakson
|
7th – Antioch
|
$24,763
|
$7,429
|
$32,192
|
Leland Yee
|
8th – San Mateo
|
$11,065
|
$3,052
|
$14,177
|
Jackie Speier
|
8th – San Mateo
|
$18,610
|
$5,583
|
$24,193
|
Don Perata
|
9th – Oakland
|
$28,203
|
$8,628
|
$36,831
|
Ellen Corbett
|
10th – San Leandro
|
$ 7,058
|
$2,117
|
$ 9,175
|
Liz Figueroa
|
10th – San Leandro
|
$13,280
|
$3,984
|
$17,264
|
Joe Simitian
|
11th – Santa Cruz
|
$13,953
|
$4,186
|
$18,139
|
Byron Sher
|
11th – Santa Cruz
|
$ 6,975
|
$2,092
|
$ 9,067
|
Jeff Denham
|
12th – Frisco
|
$29,046
|
$8,397
|
$37,443
|
Elaine Alquist
|
13th – San Jose
|
$10,240
|
$3,072
|
$13,312
|
John Vasconcellos
|
13th – San Jose
|
$8,182
|
$2,454
|
$10,636
|
Dave Cogdill
|
14th – San Diego
|
$ 8,634
|
$2,592
|
$11,226
|
Chuck Poochigian
|
14th – San Diego
|
$17,032
|
$5,110
|
$22,142
|
Abel Maldonado
|
15th – Santa Maria
|
$12,954
|
$3,863
|
$16,817
|
Bruce McPherson
|
15th – Santa Maria
|
$15,361
|
$4,608
|
$19,969
|
Dean Florez
|
16th – Long Beach
|
$31,887
|
$9,564
|
$41,451
|
George Runner
|
17th – Lancaster
|
$15,678
|
$4,703
|
$20,381
|
William Knight
|
17th – Lancaster
|
$10,866
|
$3,258
|
$14,124
|
Roy Ashburn
|
18th – San Diego
|
$30,486
|
$9,146
|
$39,632
|
Tom McClintock
|
19th – 1000 Oaks
|
$12,214
|
$3,664
|
$15,878
|
Alex Padilla
|
20th – Van Nuys
|
$ 6,959
|
$2,088
|
$ 9,047
|
Richard Alarcon
|
20th – Van Nuys
|
$ 8,566
|
$2,570
|
$11,136
|
|
|
$487,590
|
$143,603
|
$631,253
|
Text Box 2
Senate Members – Districts 21 to 40
Name
|
District
|
Federal
|
State
|
Total
|
Jack Scott
|
21st – Los Angeles
|
$22,686
|
$ 6,806
|
$29,492
|
Gil Cedillo
|
22nd – Los Angeles
|
$23,799
|
$ 7,140
|
$30,939
|
Gloria Romero
|
24th – Los Angeles
|
$23,607
|
$ 7,091
|
$30,698
|
Eddie Vincent
|
25th – Los Angeles
|
$27,170
|
$ 8,151
|
$35,321
|
Mark Ridley-Thomas
|
26th – Los Angeles
|
$ 7,654
|
$ 2,296
|
$ 9,950
|
Kevin Murray
|
26th – Los Angeles
|
$25,084
|
$ 7,525
|
$32,609
|
Alan Lowenthal
|
27th – Los Angeles
|
$12,503
|
$ 3,751
|
$16,254
|
Betty Karnette
|
27th – Los Angeles
|
$ 9,445
|
$ 2,833
|
$12,278
|
Jenny Oropeza
|
28th – Long Beach
|
$ 6,199
|
$ 1,857
|
$ 8,056
|
Debra Bowen
|
28th – Long Beach
|
$12,676
|
$ 3,803
|
$16,479
|
Bob Margett
|
29th – Glendora
|
$28,148
|
$ 8,445
|
$36,593
|
Ron Calderon
|
30th – Los Angeles
|
$10,805
|
$ 3,242
|
$14,047
|
Martha Escutia
|
30th – Los Angeles
|
$18,239
|
$ 5,475
|
$23,714
|
Bob Dutton
|
31st – Cucamonga
|
$17,351
|
$ 5,205
|
$22,556
|
James Brulte
|
31st – Cucamonga
|
$15,820
|
$ 4,746
|
$20,566
|
Gloria McLeod
|
32nd – Chino
|
$ 5,146
|
$ 1,544
|
$ 6,690
|
Nell Soto
|
32nd – Chino
|
$ 6,825
|
$ 2,047
|
$ 8,872
|
Dick Ackerman
|
33rd – Laguna Hills
|
$27,299
|
$ 8,190
|
$35,489
|
Lou Correa
|
34th – Santa Ana
|
$ 2,903
|
$ 871
|
$ 3,774
|
Tom Harman
|
35th – Santa Barbara
|
$ 8,891
|
$ 2,667
|
$11,558
|
John Campbell
|
35th – Santa Barbara
|
$ 4,010
|
$ 1,203
|
$ 5,213
|
D. Hollingsworth
|
36th – Murrieta
|
$29,036
|
$ 8,711
|
$37,747
|
Jim Battin
|
37th – Palm Desert
|
$34,724
|
$10,417
|
$45,141
|
William Morrow
|
38th – Carlsbad
|
$12,616
|
$ 3,785
|
$16,401
|
Christine Kehoe
|
39th – San Diego
|
$11,822
|
$ 3,547
|
$15,639
|
Alpert Dede
|
39th – San Diego
|
$12,473
|
$ 3,742
|
$16,215
|
Denise Ducheny
|
40th – Chula Vista
|
$15,665
|
$ 4,880
|
$20,545
|
|
|
$432,866
|
$129,970
|
$562,836
|
|