If you're confused over Tim Geithner's tax problems -- and, at this point, confusion is probably the correct position -- The New York Times has a nice explainer on what went awry and how it happened. The short answer seems to be that paying international taxes when you're working for a tax exempt organization is complicated. Accountants advised him wrong, Quicken didn't pick up those errors, and Geithner himself didn't care enough to really figure it out. The New York Times editorial page, however, is rather less forgiving. I'd just add that there's a lot being made of the fact that Geithner is going to run the I.R.S. Most of this is disingenuous, as no one actually believes Geithner is going to spend half his day trying to salvage our financial sector and half his day poring through the U.S. tax code to make sure things are in order. I don't know if Geithner is the best candidate to lead Treasury. But if he is, then given the economic threat embedded in the moment, it would be incredibly weird if we decided to disqualify him because he thought he could deduct sleep-away camp on his child care tax credit.
