Ok, here's the deal with Ney paying his legal fees though his campaign. Ney is paying his fees though his campaign to skirt paying taxes on the money he is paying to the law firm of Vinson & Elkins.
Ney has set up a legal defense fund to help defray the costs of defending his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal, and as an original member of the Jack Pack, he's got a lot of defending to do. Money donated to his legal fund generates tax liability for Ney, while the campaign dollars he spends for legal fees do not.
So, how much money are we talking about? On the $96,500 dollars he spent in the first quarter, Ney would have incurred a federal tax burden of $31,845 and a state tax burden of $7,465. That's a total of $39,310 of taxes Bob Ney has skirted using this loophole. (Note: These figures are based on an individual filing single with no deductions. I don't know what Ney's deduction are.)
As I wrote earlier, Ney has set up a legal defense fund. If he chooses to gain the benefit of high priced legal help, he should direct his donors to donate to it rather than his campaign coffers and pay his fair share of taxes on the benefit he is receiving. Ney needs to stop using campaign money for his legal defense.
This is just another example of Ney using his position in Congress for personal gain. It's far past time we put somebody in this seat that doesn't see a seat in Congress as his own personal slush fund generator.
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