The Internal Revenue Service has filed a lien for almost $80,000 against Arnold Schwarzenegger’s property, but the California governor’s office blamed the tax lien on sloppy recordkeeping, post office delivery problems and inconsistent tax identification numbers.
The lien was filed against the former actor for his 2004 and 2005 taxes. The Web site TMZ.com found an IRS document filed in May showing that the governor owed $39,047.20 on his 2004 taxes and $40,016.80 on his 2005 taxes. The amount may include penalties for failure to report certain business transactions.
However, a spokesman for the governor told the Los Angeles Times that the governor had paid his taxes in full and on time. He said the IRS had not notified Schwarzenegger that he owed any taxes and said the governor’s office was trying to determine if the amount owed was only a penalty for missing information.
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Schwarzenegger’s business manager later blamed the problem on a discrepancy between the reference number used on Schwarzenegger’s personal tax returns and the number on the payroll tax forms for his household employees filed with the Social Security Administration. The tax returns used the governor’s Social Security number, whereas the payroll tax forms provided his employer identification number.
The IRS and the Social Security Administration apparently did not realize that Schwarzenegger was filing both forms, according to his business manager. In addition, the IRS warning notices were sent to the governor’s home instead of his office. The post office does not deliver mail to Schwarzenegger’s home, however, so the notices were returned to the IRS, which in turn filed a tax lien against the governor.
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