Chris Christie thinks he can openly evade hundreds of thousands in taxes and still run for President.

[pnwmom]

He says he's ready now to run, unlike in 2012 when he didn't feel ready.

So how come he's been failing to report about $90K a year in income, dating back to 2010? Was he sure no one would ever notice? Or that no one would ever care?

http://watchdog.org/211787/christie-avoids-income-taxes/

Gov. Chris Christie failed to report as income or pay taxes on $380,000 in expense allowances he received from the state, according to a New Jersey Watchdog examination of Treasury data and the governor’s tax returns.

By not declaring the allowances on their joint returns, Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, avoided roughly $152,000 in federal income taxes over four years.

Despite an exchange of emails, Christie’s press office did not offer comment.

In addition to his $175,000 a year salary, Christie gets a $95,000 a year expense account. In the state budget, it’s described as an “allowance to the governor of funds not otherwise appropriated, for official reception on behalf of the state, operations of an official residence, and other expenses.”

The governor is not required to provide receipts, refund surpluses or provide information to the state on how the money is used. But failure to report a “non-accountable” allowance to the Internal Revenue Service is a different matter.

Contrary to IRS rules, Christie did not declare the allowances as income on federal returns for 2010, 2011, 2012 or 2013. The 2014 return is due Wednesday, but Christie typically receives six-month filing extensions.

SNIP

[shenmue]

1. The day he gets indicted,

I'm getting a cake.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

2. I thought bridgegate indictments were due this week.

[former9thward]

3. All governors have expense accounts.

As does President Obama. The link in the OP is making the foolish assumption that Christie did not have one dime of expenses in 4 years and just put the 95k into his personal account. Expenses are not taxable. At the link they don't bother saying how any governor since 1992 has handled this. There have been quite a few governors, R and D, in that period.

[pnwmom]

4. The link is saying that he didn't report income that other NJ governors did report.

Expenses are ONLY not taxable if they can be documented. Given the Governor's office's statement (which was added in an update), it isn't clear how they were documented.

From the link at the OP: "The governor is not required to provide receipts, refund surpluses or provide information to the state on how the money is used. But failure to report a “non-accountable” allowance to the Internal Revenue Service is a different matter."

[former9thward]

5. No the link is not saying that.

First it did not give any examples of governors after 1992. Second just because expenses are not reported does not mean they did not exist. The link is assuming Christie had no expenses whatsoever for 4 years. It is assuming that this money ended up in Christie's personal account. If you wish to make all these assumptions, fine. I suspect the IRS knows better.

[pnwmom]

7. If the IRS knows better, why weren't the expenses reported in the hundreds of pages of tax returns?

Under IRS expense allowance regulations the employer must require the employee to substantiate this expenses to the employer; and the employer must require that any balance be returned to the employer. Neither of these requirements appears to have been met.

The Watchdog says that NJ hasn’t been requiring Christie to document his expenses. And Christie's office says that any fund balance “traditionally” is returned – not that NJ law requires it to be returned.

In both these respects, Christie’s arrangements with NJ don’t appear to conform to the law for reimbursable expenses. Either the expenses should have been fully documented and any balance required to be returned to the State (not at the discretion of the Governor, following tradition), or the full amount of the funds should have been reported to the IRS.

http://watchdog.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/04/CFR-2014-title26-vol2-sec1-62-2.pdf

Section 62(c) provides that an arrangement will not be treated as a reimbursement or other expense allowance arrangement for purposes of section 62(a)(2)(A) if—
(1) Such arrangement does not require the employee to substantiate the expenses covered by the arrangement to the payor, or
(2) Such arrangement provides the employee the right to retain any amount in excess of the substantiated expenses covered under the arrangement.

Christie's office's statement, from the link at the OP:

“The report on NJ watchdog is categorically false and irresponsible. The expense account, which has been provided to every governor in recent memory, is not salary and isn’t kept by the Governor as income. It is a discretionary fund that is used for business purposes, including costs associated with official events at Drumthwacket, the official residence. Unused fund balances have traditionally been returned to the State treasury and not kept as income, and that has been the case for every year under Governor Christie. As such, it is not required to appear on his income tax filings, consistent with IRS rules.”

[former9thward]

8. I don't know and you don't either.

I have not seen the returns and you haven't either. If you want to believe everything that is on the internet more power to you.

[pnwmom]

9. I just added more to the previous post -- the Federal regulation that the Watchdog says isn't being

followed.

Judge for yourself.

[samsingh]

6. didn't romney do that?