Sarah Palin didn't pay taxes on $17,000 worth of per diem payments she received from the state of Alaska. The payments are intended to compensate state officials for travel expenses when they need to travel for state business, but Palin took per diems almost exclusively for days on which she stayed at her home in Wasilla.Still, whether or not you think it's an appropriate claim for per diem payments, the McCain campaign doesn't think that these per diems constitute taxable income, and so Palin received them tax-free. Generally speaking, fringe benefits (like travel reimbursement, relocation expenses, business meals, &c.) are not considered taxable income.
But it's certainly notable that while Gov. Palin does not want to pay taxes on her (potentially improper) per diems, the McCain campaign is proposing that all Americans should have to pay taxes on employer-provided health care benefits.
Photo used under Creative Commons license from Flickr user herzogbr.
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