Another Hillary Joke: She and Bill Pay Ordinary Income Taxes

In another one of her "book-tour" interviews, Hillary Clinton tried to diminish her wealth by saying she and Bill pay "ordinary" income taxes, unlike most millionaires who take advantage of the tax code to underpay their obligations.

Well, in 2008, when Hillary was running for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency,  Bill Clinton released several years of tax returns.  In the latest-available 2007 return, the Clinton's earned, after adjustments, $20.4 million and only paid $5.1 in taxes.  Thus their effective tax rate was 25%.  That is 10 percentage points below the "ordinary" rate of 35% for someone making as much as they did.  An income level, by the way, that puts them squarely in the same infamous, anti-Democratic, disgusting income-inequality level of the top 1%.

Once again, Hillary Clinton is either delusional or just plain stupid. But more than likely, she just thinks she can lie and no one will check the facts.  She is a 1-percent-er who wants us all to believe that she is somehow, just like the rest of us in that big 99% tent that the anti-wealth "Occupy" movement was all about.

References:

Hillary Clinton: ‘We pay ordinary income tax’: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jun/22/hillary-clinton-we-pay-ordinary-income-tax/

Clinton Releases Tax Returns: http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/04/clinton-release.html

Federal Tax Brackets: Selectable by Year: http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm


We are the 99%: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_are_the_99%25

Everyone talks about the 1% -- but who are they exactly? -- http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/04/pf/taxes/top-1-taxes/

Rush Limbaugh Is Wrong On Having To Pay The ObamaCare Tax In 2014

Recently, Matt Drudge, of the Drudge Report, tweeted that he just paid the tax for not having health insurance in 2014 and he called it his "freedom tax".  Immediately, he was labelled as going from being a complete liar to being just plain stupid for paying a tax that Obama put off until taxes are paid in 2015. Today, Limbaugh went on a tirade in defending Drudge saying that he only did what the law "requires" him to do.  

Now, to be exact, Drudge is one of those people or businesses that are required to file their taxes every quarter along with a supporting form: the 1040ES. With regard to the health care penalty, the IRS instructions are simply advisory:

"Health care coverage. When you file your 2014 tax return in 2015, you will need to either (1) indicate on your return that you and your family had health care coverage throughout 2014, (2) claim an exemption from the health care coverage requirement for some or all of 2014, or (3) make a payment if you do not have coverage or an exemption(s) for all 12 months of 2014."

Contrary to Limbaugh's rant, it was optional for Drudge to pay the tax early.  The IRS simply says that "When you file...in 2015" the payment is due for not having health insurance for 12 full months in 2014.  It implies no mandatory payment on a quarterly basis or even any interest penalty for failing to do so. It then goes on to say that you "can" pay the tax penalty early by indicating so on line 12, Other Taxes, of the 1040ES form.  Even so, only a quarter of the estimated total penalty would be due at this time.

Often I agree with Rush, but this time he's wrong and, in this case it hurts his credibility.

References:

‘Liberty Tax’: White House, Media Attack After Drudge Pays Obamacare Opt-Out Penalty: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/03/21/White-House-Leads-Liberal-Media-In-Matt-Drudge-Attack

2014 1040ES Filing Instructions: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf