Blackwater accused of tax evasion

[ProSense]

Blackwater accused of tax evasion.

In a letter to Blackwater CEO Erik Prince today, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) says he has obtained documents “which suggest that Blackwater may have engaged in significant tax evasion” by labeling their armed guards “independent contractors.” Due to the label, “Blackwater may have avoided paying millions of dollars in Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, and related taxes for which it is legally responsible,” writes Waxman. DynCorp and Triple Canopy, “the two other major private military contractors providing security services to the State Department in Iraq,” classify their guards as “employees.”

Read the whole letter here.

[Coexist]

1. from The Hill: there will be a Tipline set up.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/waxman-blackwater-may-have-engaged-in-tax-evasion-2007-10-22.html

"The panel also set up a tipline to allow people with knowledge of Blackwater’s potential tax evasion to come forward.'

[FormerDittoHead]

2. Oh yeah. Like THAT line's not being "monitored"... n/t

[madokie]

3. I know one thing about blackwater for sure and that is the owner is a PUNK

he'll get his due as the rest of the war profiteers will

[peacetalksforall]

7. If you see any reruns of him being sworn in at his hearing, notice

the smile. Perhaps he was smiling at a buddy Representative who might have coached him. Perhaps he was smiling to himself. It was sinister to me because of who he thinks he is - a hot shot political businessperson with hundreds of 'in's' with the Republicans and a future of controlling people all over the world. Did I say controlling?

Rice's Private Army. Powell before her.

[madokie]

8. Oh I seen it

he kind of reminded me of abramoff too. But what he really did though was/is piss this already pissed ole boy right the fuck off

[rurallib]

4. About as much of a surprise as sunrise

but wait - nothing will happen.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

5. Watch Blackwater claim exemption because of being a religious organization

[Bake]

6. I'm SHOCKED, I tell you, SHOCKED!

Not.

Bake

[benld74]

9. Capone went down for it, didn't he?

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

10. Although I'd like to see him prosecuted, the back taxes will kill his company.

I'm sure he's put a friggin TON of his profits in other war profiteering opportunities and he'll never starve. But, the consequences of the back taxes would likely bankrupt the company.

Still, any other Joe would be prosecuted and this little prince should also be prosecuted.

[ProSense]

11. SBA shoots down Blackwater Tax-Fraud Explanation

Blackwater's Tax-Fraud Explanation Needs Explanation

By Spencer Ackerman - October 22, 2007, 6:35PM

Earlier today, Blackwater's Anne Tyrrell disputed an allegation from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) that the company has committed tax fraud by classifying guards as independent contractors instead of employees with the following statement:

The U.S. Small Business Administration has determined in an official finding applying "the criteria used by the IRS for Federal income tax purpose," that "Blackwater security contractors are not employees."

But according to the Small Business Administration, that's not exactly true.

SBA spokeswoman Christine Mangi says that SBA did make such a determination -- on November 2, 2006. But it was in reference to a dispute about who was a company employee on a project to provide services to Navy vessels in Guam, not Iraq. The ruling, she says, "was for this particular procurement," not an SBA finding about Blackwater personnel in general, contrary to the suggestion of Blackwater's response to Waxman.

Furthermore, Mangi explains, the IRS hardly has to defer to the SBA determination about who's an independent contractor and who's an employee. "Our findings are for the sole purposes of our small business contracting programs and, to the best of our knowledge, carry no legal weight outside of our programs," she says.

[ProSense]

12. Kick! n/t