Man Charged in Alleged Mitt Romney Tax Scheme
Michael Mancil Brown, 34, of Franklin, Tennessee has been formerly charged after he allegedly claimed that he had former GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s income tax returns. This alleged activity took place in 2012 during Romney’s presidential campaign, court documents state.
Brown is charged with six counts of wire fraud and six counts of extortion. A federal grand jury indictment was filed in the United States District Court in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday June 27, 2013.
According to the allegations Brown sent an anonymous letter to the offices of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP located in in Franklin, Tennessee. The letter was received in the height of 2012’s presidential campaign. In the letter Brown allegedly demanded $1 million in the digital currency Bitcoin in exchange for the copies of Romney’s taxes that Brown alleged were in his possession.
The letter was delivered just before the Republican and Democratic national conventions. It stated that parties could get the alleged “tax forms released in exchange for $1 million in Google Bitcoins.”
Allegedly Brown claimed to have come into possession of Romney’s tax information after he accessed PwC’s internal systems. The indictment found these claims to be false.
At the time Romney had refused to release his tax returns from before 2010.
The charges that Brown faces in the indictment are merely accusations. He is still innocent until he is proven guilty.
These charges against Brown were investigated by the Nashville Field Office of the U.S. Secret Service with assistance from the Nashville Resident Agency of the FBI.
Brown faces charges of extortion and wire fraud. He continues to maintain his innocence.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Evasion, Tax Law Tags:
Man Adopts His Partner to Avoid Inheritance Taxes
This odd tale began nearly 45 years ago when John met Gregory at a gay bar in downtown Pittsburgh. Forty five years later the loving couple has been through losing friends to Aids, the gay rights movement and Pennsylvania constitutional laws that prevented them from becoming a married couple.
Now at 65 and 73 they face financial and emotional in-securities. Fearful of financial strains due to Pennsylvania’s inheritance taxes John adopted Gregory. Now instead of being a couple they are father and son.
Gregory is the older of the two, but because John’s father is still alive he could not legally adopt him.
In states such as Pennsylvania, same-sex couples still struggle with health-care decision-making and filing statuses on their state taxes.
John and Gregory had considered marrying in another state. But they found out that because Pennsylvania does not recognize their marriage they would still be subjected to the inheritance laws.
After their lawyer filled out the proper paperwork Gregory and John had a 15-minute hearing at the courthouse.
They had to answer several questions including, “How long had they known each other? How long had they lived together? How long had they been in their current place?”
Before making a final decision the judge asked, “I am really curious, why are you adopting [Gregory]?”
‘Because it’s our only legal option to protect ourselves from Pennsylvania’s inheritance taxes,'” John explained. “He got it immediately.”
The judge signed the adoption papers on the spot. He handed the papers to the clerk then turned to John and said, “Congratulations, it’s a boy.”
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Law Tags:
Vehicle Owners Request for Reduction on Gas Taxes
Because of the increasing rates on gas taxes, vehicle owners have requested for reductions on the gas taxes in order for them to save extra money from purchasing gallons of gasoline to fuel up their vehicles.
The issues of vehicle owners about gas taxes are not a new issue. Ever since the tax gas started to increase, taxpayer advocates and other people who are affected by the sudden boost of tax gas, were already aware and disturbed about the increasing gas taxes. The government and some professionals that deal with such issues on tax have already taken some actions to prevent or reduce gas tax. However, the actions and solutions made are not enough to stop the increasing taxes on gas. That is why many people are requesting for transparency about how taxes are calculated when it comes to gas.
The reduction and transparency on gas tax is still in the process. Although the government can’t just lower or reduce the tax on gas instantly, legislators and staffs of the committee that handle the issue are finding some ways on how people can save money from buying gas. These temporary solutions are not yet implemented, but there were numbers of people who are suggesting purchasing hybrid cars and other fuel-efficient tools or machines to avoid paying a huge amount of money when buying gasoline on different gas stations. There are also some who recommended using public transportation rather than using their own vehicles when travelling from one place to another.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, State Tax, Tax Law Tags: