"13 firms receiving bailout funds owe $220m in taxes; Oversight panel made discovery during review" by Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press | March 20, 2009
WASHINGTON - At least 13 firms receiving billions of dollars in bailout money owe a total of more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes, a key lawmaker said yesterday.
Representative John Lewis, chairman of a House subcommittee overseeing the federal bailout, said two firms owe more than $100 million apiece....
The House Ways and Means subcommittee on oversight discovered the unpaid taxes in a review of tax records from 23 of the firms receiving the most money, Lewis said as he opened a hearing on the issue. The panel said it could not legally release the names of the companies owing taxes. It said one recipient had almost $113 million in unpaid federal income taxes from 2005 and 2006. A second recipient owed almost $102 million dating to before 2004. Another was behind $1.1 million in federal income taxes and $223,000 in federal employment taxes.
"If we looked at all 470 recipients, how much would they owe?" Lewis asked. Lewis said the panel plans to review tax records from other firms receiving federal money, but he was unsure if it would look at every firm....
Banks and other firms receiving federal money were required to sign contracts stating they had no unpaid taxes, Lewis said. But he said the Treasury Department did not ask them to turn over their tax records.
It's all just a BIG SHOW FOOLEY for you, America!!!
Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, told the hearing that if an executive signed a contract knowing that information about unpaid taxes was false, "that would potentially be a crime." He said his office will look to see if crimes were committed.
To date, the program has paid out more than $300 billion to private companies of the $700 billion approved by Congress last fall. No one from the Treasury Department appeared at yesterday's hearing. Lewis said he asked Treasury officials for a private briefing on their efforts to uncover unpaid taxes, as well as someone to testify. "They said no one was available," Lewis said.
Talk about STIFFING the American people!! But they were INTERESTED ENOUGH to make sure Dodd took the pay limits out!!!!
The Internal Revenue Service "has every expectation that these amounts will be paid and is committed to collect every dollar of taxes that are owed," IRS spokesman Frank Keith said in a statement. "The IRS recognizes that those entities that receive taxpayer support have a special obligation to pay their taxes, and these taxpayer accounts will remain closely monitored by the IRS to ensure that the full amount of taxes due are paid."
And I just saw a cow jump over the moon!!!!!
Keith noted there could many reasons why a taxpayer has an unpaid balance. For example, taxpayers could be challenging their bills. "In and of itself, this does not signal any intent not to pay," Keith said.
Look at the IRS MAKING EXCUSES for the LYING LOOTERS!!!!!!!!
Yeah, but they are looking out for YOU, taxpayer!!!!
Have you HAD ENOUGH of the LIES yet?
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is under fire on Capitol Hill for not preventing $165 million in bonuses from being paid to employees at troubled insurance giant AIG.
People will ask, said Representative Artur Davis, why there are "large companies getting taxpayer dollars, making false representations, and we can't even name them, much less make them pay the money back, much less prosecute them."
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And NOW AIG is SUING US!!!!!!
From GUESS WHERE!!
NEW YORK - While American International Group comes under fire from Congress over executive bonuses, it is quietly fighting the federal government for the return of $306 million in tax payments, some related to deals that were conducted through offshore tax havens.
Yeah, that is quite a bit of chutzpah, isn't it?
AIG sued the government in February in a bid to force it to return the payments, which stemmed in large part from its use of aggressive tax deals, some involving entities controlled by the company's financial products unit in the Cayman Islands, Ireland, the Dutch Antilles, and other offshore havens.
It's the HEIGHT of ARROGANCE, isn't it? THEY CHEATED YOU, the TAXPAYERS of AmeriKa, and then YOU the TAXPAYERS of AmeriKa BAILED THEM OUT!!!!!
AIG is effectively suing its majority owner, the government, which has an 80 percent stake and has poured $180 billion into the insurer in a bid to avert its collapse and avoid troubling the global financial markets. The company is in effect asking for even more money, in the form of tax refunds. The suit also suggests that AIG is spending taxpayer money to pursue its case, something it is legally entitled to do. Its initial claim was denied by the IRS last year.
Un-frikkin-real!!!!
The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 27 in US District Court in Manhattan, details, among other things, certain tax-related dealings of the financial products unit, the once high-flying division that has been singled out for AIG's financial crisis last fall. Other deals involved AIG offshore entities whose function centers on executive compensation and include C.V. Starr & Co., a closely held concern controlled by Hank Greenberg, AIG's former chairman, and the Starr International Co., a privately held enterprise incorporated in Panama, and commonly known as SICO.
The lawsuit contends in part that the federal government owes AIG nearly $62 million in foreign tax credits related to eight foreign entities, with names like Lumagrove, Laperouse, and Foppingadreef, that were set up or controlled by financial products, often through a unit known as Pinestead Holdings.
US tax law allows US companies to claim a credit for any taxes paid to a foreign government. But the IRS denied AIG's refund claims in 2008, saying it had improperly calculated the credits. The IRS has identified so-called foreign tax-credit generators as an area of abuse that it is increasingly monitoring.
The remainder of AIG's claim, for $244 million, concerns net operating loss carry-backs, capital loss carry-backs, a general refund claim, and claims for refunds of other tax-related payments that AIG says it made to the IRS but are now owed back. The claim also covers $119 million in penalties and interest that AIG says it is due back from the government.In this case, that's YOU, TAXPAYERS!!
I'd say NO MORE BAILOUTS for AIG, wouldn't you?
Thing is, Fed will do it on the sly. You don't control shit, Amurkns, and neither do the polirticians. That's what makes this all the more galling.
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Update: You'll love this!
"AIG bonus payments $218 million
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Documents turned over to the Connecticut attorney general show that American International Group Inc paid out over $218 million in bonuses, more than the previously disclosed $165 million, published reports said on Saturday....
No wonder Dodd is the top recipient.
The documents show that bonuses of at least $1 million were paid to 73 people, and five received more than $4 million.
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Had enough shit for breakfast, 'murkn?
