Duggar Property

[Witsec7]

I will be returning the National Enquirers phone call as soon as I have my espresso. :D

[Deleted03]

I will be returning the National Enquirers phone call as soon as I have my espresso. :D

wow good luck and keep us posted!!!

[formergothardite]

What exactly did they owe 4.5 million dollars (that makes my credit card debt look like a couple of pennies) for? Was it the house and the land?

I am amazed at the smart Free Jinger people who figured this out and sort of shocked that they were able to cover it up for so long.

And yeah! for experiencedd! Tell us how it goes! I'm going to be like Miss Raquel and ::squeal:: ::happy face::

[Constance Vigilance]

I will be returning the National Enquirers phone call as soon as I have my espresso. :D

:D :D :D :D

$4.5 million worth of loans! Every car on the lot valued at $0 to avoid paying tax!

Enjoy!!!

[debrand]

I just wanted to thank you for this. If the Duggars have any debt than they are liars encouraging people in much worse financial positions to do what they aren't.(live without debt) I can see that the Duggars might consider some debt to be investment opportunities, but they need to make that clear to their fans.

Also, why would they be behind on any taxes? They make a decent amount of income.

[formergothardite]

Once when I was young and not being so bright I forgot to pay my car tax and couldn't renew my car tag until I did, but they aren't young and seem smart enough about these things, so I can't think of any reason for them not to pay them. Unless of course they have been stupid with their money and are going broke.

[ilovetchotchkes]

:D :D :D :D

$4.5 million worth of loans! Every car on the lot valued at $0 to avoid paying tax!

Enjoy!!!

*rubs hands together ala mr Burns* EXXXXCEELLLLLLENNTTTT

[ophelia]

The difference between you, formergothardite, and the Duggars is that you weren't on national TV with an annoying smiley face telling everybody how absolutely awesome you are with your 19 kids and without any debts.. JimBoob is a liar and I hope that this story will get him really into trouble.

[donks]

No car can deprecriate to 0. I have an ancient Chevy I use here with the horses, it's old and beat-up, but runs decent. I pay taxes on it every year.

ETA I drive it on the road 2x a month to get horsefeed and hay. The rest of the time it sits in the shed by the haybarn.

[debrand]

I will be returning the National Enquirers phone call as soon as I have my espresso. :D

If you are serious, I officially love you. :D

For other people, this would not be a big deal. However, the Duggars fame is partially built off not having debt. Plus, debt is not always bad. For example, going into debt to buy an affordable safe car is better than paying cash for a junker if you have a child. It is best if you can save for the safer car but not everyone can. The Duggar mindset doesn't take into account situations where a small amount of debt may be advantageous for a family.

This is just another example of a famous person telling others to 'Do as I say, not as I do."

The Duggars have set themselves up as people to be emulated. If they believe that some debt under certain circumstances is acceptable, they should tell their fans.

This also speaks to their overall honesty. If they lie about this situation, what else are they lying about?

[Daenerys]

experiencedd I LOVE YOU, if this makes the N.E. it will be brilliant.

[Alecto]

In Arkansas, if a car is below a certain value (I think $2000) you do not have to pay property taxes on it. Mine is below said value.

It is also possible, though I don't know for sure, that used cars as inventory are not subject to personal property tax, hence the value is $0 for his assessment.

[ophelia]

If you are serious, I officially love you. :D

For other people, this would not be a big deal. However, the Duggars fame is partially built off not having debt. Plus, debt is not always bad. For example, going into debt to buy an affordable safe car is better than paying cash for a junker if you have a child. It is best if you can save for the safer car but not everyone can. The Duggar mindset doesn't take into account situations where a small amount of debt may be advantageous for a family.

This is just another example of a famous person telling others to 'Do as I say, not as I do."

The Duggars have set themselves up as people to be emulated. If they believe that some debt under certain circumstances is acceptable, they should tell their fans.

This also speaks to their overall honesty. If they lie about this situation, what else are they lying about?

THIS THIS THIS!!!

[Witsec7]

Well my contact sounded like Raoul Duke, I envisioned him sitting at a desk smoking Russian Ovals with pinched fingers about a cigarette holder. He's written a story about the Duggars previously, thats why he caught my tip. He knows a bit about Gothard and ATI, but nothing substantial.

I'm going to be busy for a bit, sending off some linky dinks. He will be passing on the info to some 'numbers' and 'legal' folks on staff for their review and getting back to me.

His big question to me was, " If these are legal business transactions why is it a story that will sell NE?" I think debrand gave an eloquent summary of why it is news that will sell. I'm not as eloquent as some, but its important that I convince this fellow it will sell papers so I'd like to hear more from the hive so that when I frame the info, I can speak to the value of the story.

[ophelia]

Thank you, experiencedd! You are AWESOME!!

Since we now that Joshie reads here, I would love to now if he and his daddy already begin to sweat.

I would love to help to convince the reporter from NE to write a story about this, but I doubt that I would be much help.. I'm much more eloquent in german ;-)

[formergothardite]

It will sell papers because they have made their money and whole image off of being this debt free family and the whole time they were in massive debt and now they haven't even paid their taxes. America doesn't love anything more than watching golden reality tv stars crash and burn.

[ilovetchotchkes]

It will sell papers because they have made their money and whole image off of being this debt free family and the whole time they were in massive debt and now they haven't even paid their taxes. America doesn't love anything more than watching golden reality tv stars crash and burn.

Schadenfreude at its finest....

[rachelsmith1989]

No car can deprecriate to 0. I have an ancient Chevy I use here with the horses, it's old and beat-up, but runs decent. I pay taxes on it every year.

ETA I drive it on the road 2x a month to get horsefeed and hay. The rest of the time it sits in the shed by the haybarn.

My old 1996 Dodge Neon depreciated to about $100 when I traded it in. Although I'm sure that the value might have been slightly more, the dealership where I got my new car said that whomever bought my Neon from them would pay $500 for it. God, what a fucking lemon! And to think that I paid my mom back almost $4000 for that clunker.... :doh:

[The Archivist]

The part where they said they lived "debt free" and made a big deal about how awesome they were for that, despite having a $4.5 mil house note, is newsworthy perhaps. Josh's tax debt is interesting too.

But I would be really interested in fact-checking the rest of it against Arkansas and federal law before screaming anything about fraud.

[formergothardite]

It sounds like they did everything legal, they just lied about it to the public. Who wants to go listen to a debt free lecture from someone with 4.5 million dollars in debt. At lets face it, without TLC, they wouldn't have been able to pay that off anytime soon.

[Grace]

On the taxes: I started to say to be fair, my personal property taxes are late almost every dang year. But then I remembered that it's not my taxes that are late, it's my assessment because you have to remember to self-asses in Arkansas. It drives me crazy that we don't get a reminder. In Missouri they used to send your assessment paperwork in the mail which you filled out and sent back. Then they sent you a bill for your taxes. Here you have to remember to assess (which I never do until my tax bill comes and it has a late fee on it). BUT I DO pay my taxes on time usually and I'm the worst ever about remembering to pay stuff. Which reminds me of a membership fee I owe some people......

[Witsec7]

Big question for the Hive. When was Josie born? I'm thinking they were sheltering assets not just for tax purposes but to keep them from being liable for the costs surrounding Josies birth? I need some feedback before I push the send button.

Also do I give him the URL for the hive? When I first talked mentioned a forum, he sounded turned off. The NE has had its share of crap from forums like Web Sleuths, KCLs etc during the Scott Peterson trials and even before.

[ilovetchotchkes]

It sounds like they did everything legal, they just lied about it to the public. Who wants to go listen to a debt free lecture from someone with 4.5 million dollars in debt. At lets face it, without TLC, they wouldn't have been able to pay that off anytime soon.

Yeah, this is what I have the issue with. Don't tell me you're "debt free" when you' owe 25x what I owe on my house. In the words of Judge Judy, "Don't pee on my leg and tell me its raining"

As far as Josie's birth, I reasonably sure TLC picked up what their insurance didn't.

[ophelia]

She was born December 2009.

[snickerz]

Another "iffy" situation that's at least unethical, possibly bending the law: Josh & Anna drive the cars from the car lot. I know a certain amount of personal use is OK, but how much? They are currently travelling long distance in a minivan from the car lot. (These vehicles are NOT registered so it is NOT ethical to use them as your personal vehicle, even if it is somehow legal.) Plus, I'm sure they have some blanket insurance policy on them all, but the insurance company expects the risk to be from driving customers around checking out the cars, not taking the fam on vacations.

And how about the Bates? They could barely afford to feed & clothe their kids, and I've often wondered about the Duggars "gifting" them a house add-on/remodel/redecorating, etc. Did the Bates have to pay taxes on this? I would assume their property tax would have doubled AT LEAST and their heating & cooling bill should now be at least double, too, so if they could barely feed their kids before, this "gift" has now left them even more destitute. (Is this why their kid has to buy the groceries?)