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| Giannoulias will pay no income taxes, receive return of $30,000 |
| 2010-07-04 |
| Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias will pay no income taxes this year and stands to receive returns of $30,000 in income withheld from his state treasurer's salary. Giannoulias says he will donate the $30,000 to charity. He released his tax returns on Friday, as well as a financial disclosure statement that reveals that he lost nearly half of his net worth. The state treasurer's fortunes were tied up in his family-owned Broadway Bank, which the federal government seized and sold earlier this year. Giannoulias' share in family trust funds plummeted from an estimated "$8 million to $40 million" down to an estimated "$2.5 million to $11.5 million," according to the financial disclosure form he is required to file as a candidate for U.S. Senate. Other family trusts are doing well enough that his net worth could range from $7 million to $29 million, the report said. That's down from the $13 million to $62 million range he reported last year. Giannoulias' income tax returns show he earned $119,000 from his job as state treasurer. He reported $14,757 in capital gains. But he also reported a loss of $2.7 million from his holdings in his family's Broadway Bank. Will Giannoulias suffer the same sort of backlash that Republican candidate for governor, State Sen. Bill Brady did when he revealed he paid no income taxes on his $75,000 state Senate salary because his family business took a loss? Giannoulias was paid $119,000 in state salary and paid no federal or state taxes on it. Giannoulias' spokeswoman Kathleen Strand pointed out that Giannoulias is donating his federal and state income tax returns -- totalling about $30,000 to charity. Also, the night his family bank was seized, Giannoulias said he would not be filing for an income tax break he might be entitled to for struggling businesses. And unlike Giannoulias' Republican opponent Mark Kirk, Giannoulias let his staffers hand copies of his income tax forms to reporters to take with them. Kirk made reporters come to his office and just take notes without being able to take copies with them. Kirk filed his income tax report by the April deadline. U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk and his now ex-wife earned $239,000 in 2008 and paid nearly $49,000 in taxes. The bulk of the couple's income came from his $169,000 salary as a congressman, though investment income and $3,900 from a rental property they owned contributed to the total. Kirk has been needling Giannoulias since April 15 about when he would file his income tax and financial disclosure forms. Giannoulias has said the nature of his family's bank requires them to file late every year and they seek the proper extensions. "Alexi Giannoulias wants to raise our taxes but doesn't pay any taxes himself," Kirk spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said. "After costing the FDIC $394 million and wiping out $73 million in college savings, Illinois voters can no longer afford Alexi Giannoulias." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 apparently there is a S corporation statement involved otherwise it would be impossible to have that much income and no taxes in any event, it strains credibility like so much else in Illinois |
| Posted by: lord garth 2010-07-04 14:35 |