Matt Drudge, the reclusive operator behind the titular website, took to Twitter Friday night to complain about paying the Obamacare mandate penalty, as he has “opted out of Obamacare for life”:
Just paid the Obamacare penalty for not 'getting covered'… I'M CALLING IT A LIBERTY TAX!
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) March 21, 2014
Others were quick to point out that he was jumping the gun, as the penalty would be applied for the 2014 tax year, and thus wouldn’t be filed until 2015:
@DRUDGE I don't get it. Can you pay it now, in advance?
— Jonathan Glick (@jonathanglick) March 21, 2014
Dude, there's no penalty until next yr RT @DRUDGE Just paid the Obamacare penalty for not 'getting covered'… I'M CALLING IT A LIBERTY TAX!
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 21, 2014
The White House responded via a spokesperson:
Flat lie, no fee for previous year. Scary how much influence he once had. RT @DRUDGE: Just paid Obamacare penalty for not 'getting covered'
— Jesse Lee (@jesseclee44) March 21, 2014
Drudge appears to pay a quarterly estimated tax, as many self-employed individuals do. However, the IRS does not yet have a mechanism set up for accepting mandate payments, nor has it released guidelines for determining the specific amount owed. “For whatever reason, Matt Drudge has decided to give the government an interest-free loan,” one tax specialist told the Huffington Post.
In response to a request for comment from Talking Points Memo, Drudge tweeted:
Obama media teams know they will not get audited for avoiding taxes. I don't have this luxury. So they mock, ridicule http://t.co/Cg23N734R9
— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) March 21, 2014
[h/t Yahoo News]
[Image via screengrab]
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