Obama's treasury pick failed to pay self-employment taxes

Barack Obama's choice to run the Treasury Department--of which the Internal Revenue Service is part of--failed to paid self-employment taxes and continued to employ a housekeeper a few months after her work authorization expired.

Transition officials discovered last fall that Geithner also had not paid the (self employment) taxes in 2001 or 2002. He paid $25,970 in back taxes and interest for those years several days before Obama announced his choice, the committee documents showed.

Geithner and his supporters have said his mistake was a common one for people hired by international organizations that don't pay the employer share of Social Security taxes. Geithner told Obama's team and senators that an accountant had reviewed his tax returns after Geithner prepared them and didn't discover the problem.

But some tax experts said the problem is not that common.

The housekeeper problem is from 2005.

Harry Reid, one of the Senators who the botched process to replace Barack Obama in the US Senate, referred to the disclosures as "a few little hiccups."

But another "hiccup" or two will surely sink Geithner.

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