Tax Court Rejects Geithner/Turbo Tax Defense
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Tax Court Rejects Geithner/Turbo Tax Defense Bartlett v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2012-254 (Sept. 4, 2012):
Geithner Blames Turbo Tax For His Tax Troubles
Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner implied at his confirmation hearing that the mistakes in his tax returns were caused by his use of the TurboTax software program. Of course, as any tax professional knows, TurboTax (and any of the other leading software programs) easily calculates self-employment tax (as well as the disallowance of a dependent care deduction for the cost of your kids' overnight camps). The errors here were entirely Geithner's, not TurboTax's.
TaxProf Blog: Tax Court Rejects Geithner/Turbo Tax Defense
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Tax Court Rejects Geithner/Turbo Tax Defense Bartlett v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2012-254 (Sept. 4, 2012):
Petitioner admits that her income was misreported and that her taxable income was underreported. She maintains that she reported all of her income and that the mistakes made were "honest mistakes" resulting from her lack of familiarity with the TurboTax program. Petitioner claims she used the audit portion of the TurboTax program, believing the audit portion would catch any mistakes she otherwise might make. ...
It is apparent that a portion of the information petitioner entered into the TurboTax program was incorrect; hence the mistakes made (which resulted in the underpayment) were made by petitioner, not TurboTax. TurboTax is only as good as the information entered into its software program. See Bunney v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 259, 267 (2000). Simply put: garbage in, garbage out.
It is apparent that a portion of the information petitioner entered into the TurboTax program was incorrect; hence the mistakes made (which resulted in the underpayment) were made by petitioner, not TurboTax. TurboTax is only as good as the information entered into its software program. See Bunney v. Commissioner, 114 T.C. 259, 267 (2000). Simply put: garbage in, garbage out.
Geithner Blames Turbo Tax For His Tax Troubles
Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner implied at his confirmation hearing that the mistakes in his tax returns were caused by his use of the TurboTax software program. Of course, as any tax professional knows, TurboTax (and any of the other leading software programs) easily calculates self-employment tax (as well as the disallowance of a dependent care deduction for the cost of your kids' overnight camps). The errors here were entirely Geithner's, not TurboTax's.
TaxProf Blog: Tax Court Rejects Geithner/Turbo Tax Defense