Dori Monson
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Bonneville Seattle is raising funds for the construction of a second Fisher House at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma and we need your help.I raised red flag - Inslee raises white flag
August 28, 2012 @ 10:15 pm
On Monday, I had a blog post in which I had consulted a tax expert about Jay Inslee taking a $5,500 deduction on the sale of a golf country club membership: Dori: Red flags in Jay Inslee's tax returns
In that post, we wrote:
One of the most troubling aspects of the returns, according to Monson, is a reported loss on a membership at the Wing Point Golf and Country Club on Bainbridge Island. Monson said he consulted with a tax attorney who questioned the legitimacy of the claim and said it could easily trigger a tax audit.
Clifford said Inslee's tax preparer disagreed
Apparently, my tax expert was right - Inslee was trying to take a bogus tax deduction. Because Tuesday night, Inslee's campaign announced that they have filed an amended return. From the Seattle Times:
Gubernatorial hopeful Jay Inslee corrected an error in his 2009 federal taxes on Tuesday, filing an amended return to remove a $5,500 deduction on the sale of a country-club membership.
Inslee corrected the return after consulting with his accountant, who originally prepared the forms, campaign spokesman Sterling Clifford said.
"It was a mistake," Clifford said.
With Inslee's release of his tax return, his campaign has been calling on Rob McKenna to do the same. McKenna will not do so. McKenna says the call to release tax returns is a "phony issue". I disagree. As I said on Tuesday's show - I think that we learned a lot about Inslee from his tax returns. Inslee appears to be someone who cannot run his family financially - as evidenced by him taking $45,000 out of an IRA to make roof repairs and the bogus attempt at a tax deduction. If Inslee can't handle his family's finances, there is absolutely no way he will be able to handle the state's.
If we can learn so much about Inslee from his tax returns, I would like the same opportunity to learn what I can about McKenna from his returns. McKenna should release his returns.
So, here's where we are: Inslee is horrible financially and tried to be a tax cheat. And McKenna doesn't want us to delve into his taxes. I'm not happy with either candidate right now.
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