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comment by ButterflyEffect
ButterflyEffect  ·  2067 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Paul Manafort Convicted in Fraud Trial

    Mr. Cohen also pleaded guilty to multiple counts of tax evasion and bank fraud, bringing to a close a monthslong investigation by Manhattan federal prosecutors who examined his personal business dealings and his role in helping to arrange financial deals with women connected to Mr. Trump.

Are we...are we Al Capone'ing these people!?





b_b  ·  2067 days ago  ·  link  ·  

$4 million in income that he didn't pay tax on apparently. It's hilarious that these morons, manafort included, never seem to want to pay taxes, even though (a) they would still have a lot of money and (b) they wouldn't go to jail. Is it like part of some special club whose roles are that you can't pay taxes to be a part of it? Good I hope the president hours down for tax evasion, too. Nothing, not even Trump rotting in jail, would make me happier than to see him poor.

kleinbl00  ·  2066 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Remind me - do you have an accountant do your taxes?

I do. Have done since 2007. At one point my wife and I had three businesses in two states. Shit gets complicated. And maybe it's because I'm in the entertainment industry, but the basic game of accountants is "we're going to save you every fucking nickel."

I've been through five accountants. The first one I shared with Hans Zimmer. His entire client list got audited because he was doing shit like not declaring foreign holdings. Except me. Apparently I was two poor. The second one had a death in the family and took two years to do one return. The third saddled us with the three businesses in two states (all of which needed to pay taxes). The fourth quit to take care of her kid. ALL of them were about dancing.

Buddy of mine will tell his accountants to be more aggressive. He's been audited three times. Because, as he says, "the worst they can do is make you pay the money you owe." It's a game: how much can you keep? How creative can you be? How many laws can you bend?

The odds of you ending up indicted are infinitesimal. That is, unless you're fronting for Mafiya oligarchs. Then your history of game-playing suddenly hits a new level.

People forget: the Mondale/Ferraro ticket was marred by Geraldine Ferraro hiring a housekeeper without checking her goddamn citizenship papers. In 1979. Shit that people treat as commonplace becomes ZOMG SCANDAL once it's useful.

That doesn't mean Cohen skating on $4m in taxes isn't a crime. But it does mean that we'd never know about it and he'd never pay any consequences if his boss wasn't president.

tacocat  ·  2064 days ago  ·  link  ·