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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (232147)	5/10/2005 10:47:56 AM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 1572777

FatBastard Kennedy, the tax cheat! Ted K’s big fat tax loophole: Millionaire blames windfall on ‘error’ By Noelle Straub Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - Updated: 10:18 AM EST Sen. Edward M. Kennedy got hefty tax breaks on his $4.5 million Washington, D.C., mansion for at least two years - even though he never met the basic residency requirement for the deductions. While Kennedy resides in Massachusetts, he received property tax credits in 2003 and 2004 on his home in a tony Washington neighborhood that were meant only for homeowners who call D.C. their principal residence. Of 22 senators who took the deduction, Kennedy stood to save the most money in the coming tax year - about $7,700 off the tax bill for his $4.5 million home, according to a review by the Kansas City Star of tax and real estate records. Called on the issue yesterday, the Bay State senator's staff said Washington officials gave him the deductions in error and without his knowledge - and vowed he will reimburse the D.C. government for the property tax breaks. His staff did not provide specifics on how much he owes or why he had failed to previously notice the deductions being made. Kennedy and his wife ``are looking into the issue and working with the D.C. government to determine the error and an appropriate solution to it - including refunding any deductions that they were erroneously given,'' Kennedy spokeswoman Laura Capps said. Kennedy's manse is in Kalorama, where his neighbors include some of the power elite, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn. One credit, dubbed the Homestead Deduction, requires homeowners to file an application with the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue confirming that the property is their principal place of residence and whether they are registered to vote or have a driver's license in the District. But Kennedy's office said he never filed such an application. ``Since they bought the house in 1998, the senator and Mrs. Kennedy never signed up for or applied for the homestead exemption,'' Capps said. ``Hyannisport is their home.'' By reducing the tax-assessed value of a house by $38,000, the Homestead deduction saves homeowners several hundred dollars a year. But a second credit can boost the savings into the thousands. The so-called Assessment Cap Credit, which caps at 12 percent annually the property tax increases on a home, offers a major savings in Washington's hot housing market. Homeowners are notified on each tax bill that they are benefiting from the two credits, including how much to the penny their tax has been reduced and the calculations used to reach that amount. Capps said Kennedy purposely did not declare the house to be his primary residence when he bought it in 1998 but that the law changed in 2002. Kennedy’s home $weet home Tax loopholes are something everybody can use. Here's how Sen. Edward M. Kennedy got his: # Kennedy, whose primary residence is Massachusetts, received two tax breaks meant only for homeowners who declare Washington, D.C., their principal residence. # The Homestead Deduction reduces a property's assessed value by $38,000 for tax purposes. # The property owner must file an application for the Homestead Deduction, although Kennedy maintains he never asked but was given it by tax officials. # In Washington's hot housing market, the Assessment Cap Credit caps at 12 percent annually the property tax increases on a home. # Both credits are listed at the bottom of the tax bill, including the calculation of the Assessment Cap Credit.