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Here’s Why Nikki Haley’s Late Tax Returns Aren’t a Big Deal

Reportedly, South Carolina gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley likes to cite her experience as an accountant on the campaign trail.

That’s all well and good but now there are reports all over the web that Ms Haley has a helluva time filing her taxes on time and that she and her husband racked up some fines because of their tardiness. This, of course, has people freaking out because A) she’s running for public office and B) because she’s an accountant.


The AP reports, “Tax records released Wednesday by Haley’s campaign show she and her husband have filed their taxes late since at least 2004. Haley is a fiscal conservative and tea party favorite who cites her experience as an accountant on the campaign trail. The state legislator and her husband have been fined nearly $4,500 over five years. Haley’s spokesman Rob Godfrey says the Haleys filed extensions when necessary and have paid what was required.”

What the AP doesn’t tell you, that everyone in the biz knows, is that accountants like Haley likely don’t know a damn thing about taxes. There’s nothing to indicate that she has work experience as a tax accountant. It’s a common misconception amongst non-beancounters that accountant = tax genius. Obviously this is bullshit and that the truth of the matter is that most non-tax accountants would rather chew broken glass than even consider picking up a Master Tax Guide.

Further, since Haley and her husband’s income has nearly tripled since the year she was elected to the SC house, they probably started using a CPA and got used to blowing off their taxes until October. Happens all the time.

Besides, since Ms Haley is endorsed by Sarah Palin and the Tea Party, this can only strengthen her base with these people. They only wish they had the money and the fortitude to blow off their tax responsibilities like Ms Haley.

Records: SC gov candidate Haley paid taxes late [AP]

GE Responds to Hoax Tax Press Release in Least Hoaxy Way Possible

Earlier this morning, the Associated Press ran a story based on a hoax press release that stated General Electric had opted to give back its “refund.” You may recall there was a fair amount of wailing and gnashing of teeth after a New York Times article made the company look like huge international conglomerate attempting to minimize its legal tax obligation (talk about nerve). As you may be aware, the “refund” is actually a “deferred tax benefit” and we can’t think of any company that would simply give those back after some pesky article from the Times. Anyhoo, the AP has bit of egg on its face and GE is once again a punching bag and has re-reiterated the fact they DID NOT GET A REFUND.


Of course the last time GE went on a PR offensive, they got schooled by Henry Blodget. On Twitter. So instead of wading back into that scary end of the pool, they shuffled out a spokeswoman to simply say, “It’s a hoax and GE did not receive a refund.”

This is really a missed opportunity for GE, in our opinion. Jeff Immelt could have seized this opportunity to have a sense of humor about the whole thing, acknowledge the efforts of the Yes Men (the hoaxers) and say, “You know, we’re a big company with the best tax law firm right here, in-house, and sometimes people hate on us *cough*The Times*cough* because they do such a good job. And maybe we employ a bunch of Treasury Department alums too. I mean, we’ve got the money. Why wouldn’t we do it? These Yes Men guys, they’re okay. They’re trying to be funny in sort of an Onion sorta way and we’re cool with that. I read The Onion once. It seemed pretty humorous.”

Or something.

“Yes Men” claim hoax GE tax press release [Reuters]