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| OBERWEIS: Still Illinoisan, but not spouse |
Specifically,
the court ruled that the companies that deliberately tried to evade paying Cook
County tax rates by locating an office in some low-tax rate rural county were
behaving improperly.
THOSE
COMPANIES ARE now going to have to start admitting that they’re Chicago-area
businesses and pay the local tax rate. No more trying to claim they’re
Kankakee-area companies!
So
what should we think of Julie Oberweis, who apparently officially moved to
Florida three years ago and has taken actions to set herself up as a Florida resident who just happens to
spend time in Illinois – where her state Senate member husband still claims his
residency.
When
the word got out earlier this week (reported by the Chicago Sun-Times), it
brought up an issue that is bound to be used over and over during the upcoming
campaign season by those wishing to trash the man who is making his third
attempt to run for the U.S. Senate.
Oberweis
admits his wife did the move so she could qualify for lesser tax rates on her
income.
SHE’S
JUST LIKE the companies that try to create a rural office for themselves (in
some cases, just a little storefront used to maintain an address, while all the
real work is done at the so-called subsidiary office in the Chicago area).
It
comes across as an attempt to dodge taxes. Which many of us would regard as
someone thinking they’re not supposed to pay their fair share.
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| Ct said businesses can't claim fake offices |
Except
to those with the corporate mentality who honestly believe their fair share is
nothing – and that any government official who can’t accept that viewpoint is “anti-business.”
Personally,
I’m not terribly offended by the Oberweis maneuver – so long as the letter of
the law is complied with strictly.
IF
THEY WANT to go through the hassle of filing separate state tax returns (he in
Illinois and she in Florida), that’s their business. Their federal return is a
joint effort, according to the Sun-Times. But it has to be prepared to
acknowledge their split life.
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| DURBIN: Will he use tax issue in campaign? |
I
believe it’s a lot more effort than its worth, just because one wants to
believe they’re being over-taxed in Illinois and they don’t want to pay the
going rate. And if there's even one technical slip-up, the feds will be sure to get themselves involved.
Which
I honestly believe is because one gets more benefits from being in Illinois,
and in the Chicago-area portion of the state. You get what you pay for. Places
that go out of their way to boast of their low tax rates usually offer up
next-to-nothing for their local residents and corporate interests.
Take
the tax avoidance situation.
A
COMPANY SUCH as Hartney Fuel Oil, Co., which tried claiming it was based in
Mark, Ill., rather than its real corporate offices in suburban Forest View,
wouldn’t hesitate to ACTUALLY move to Mark (population, 550) if they thought
they could gain real benefits or savings from being located in the Putnam
County village.
It
will be intriguing to see how this particular issue plays out, and if it will
be added to the litany of gaffes Oberweis (the candidate, not the spouse) has
made in past campaigns. A helicopter circling Soldier Field, anyone?!? Will she
have to “move” back to Illinois so her husband can run, yet again, for federal
office?
One
other point should be made. Oberweis tried to minimize the idea of his wife
being a Florida resident by implying that Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has the
same situation – his spouse, Loretta, is a lobbyist in Springfield.
Except
that, technically, so is Durbin, the senator, whose D.C. living situation is
that of the famed four Congress-members who live in a grungy frat-house style
home (inspiring the new program “Alpha House”) because they’d rather not
maintain real homes in the District of Columbia along with their REAL houses
back home.
-30-
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