Politico has an interesting survey of US Senators and their problems (or not) with getting their own taxes right. Nothing particularly shocking, other than clearly illustrating that the Senate is something of a glass house. There are also some nifty details. Whereas most Senators appear to have a local CPA/accountant prepare their taxes, moneybags Herb Kohl has Deloitte & Touche do his. My favorite answer explaining problems with taxes came from Tom Coburn’s office:
After Dr. Coburn left the House, the House continued to pay him for three months. Apparently, they were very pleased with his service. However, because the payments were made in error Dr. Coburn returned all of the checks to Treasury. Yet, the House sent a W-2 to the IRS, but not to Coburn, reporting income that had been returned. After a long fight, the House and the IRS admitted their error and the IRS sent Coburn a corrected W-2. This is the government in charge of “stimulating” our economy.