Financial thoughts

Ron Kirk, who President Barack Obama nominated earlier this year to serve as U.S. trade representative, will have to pay close to $10,000 to resolve tax issues uncovered during the Senate Finance Committee’s official vetting of the former Dallas mayor's taxes for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The report says Kirk's tax returns for those years raised several questions, including questions about undeclared income that the Senate Committee said should have been reported but was not because Kirk had asked for his speaking fees to be donated to Austin College. Lawmakers in the report say Kirk has agreed to file amended returns to reflect the fees as income.

In addition, charitable donations made by Kirk were vetted and the Senate Finance Committee raised questions about charitable donations in the 2006 fiscal year. The report says charitable donations for the year may be increased to include a $1,500 deduction that was overlooked in the original filing. In addition, the report says acknowledgement was not provided in one part and in relation to one charitable donation, the fair market value of a TV needed to be reduced from $3,000 to $1,500 bad credit auto loans.

The vetting process also included questions about Kirk’s reduced net partnership income based on unreimbursed business expenses tied to the purchase of season tickets to Dallas Mavericks games. The committee raised questions about whether the purchases were personal in nature and asked for additional information to show the events were tied to business expenses and not for personal use.

In response to the official vetting report from the Senatate Finance Committee, the White House sent the following statement: "We are confident that Mayor Kirk will be confirmed. The president nominated Mayor Kirk because of his proven ability at the negotiating table — building consensus between opposing stakeholders in Dallas and crafting deals to create opportunities for U.S. businesses overseas."

The White House called the tax issues minor, and said Kirk's nomination is on track. The Senate Finance Committee is set to meet on March 9 to discuss Kirk's nomination.

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