"Redeeming Lawful Money"

[Pottapaug1938]

Reading David's idiocy about bats, I could not help thinking how appropriate that was, for someone who is batsh*t crazy.

[wserra]

Every now and then, I look in on Van Pelt's site. I just did that yesterday. In a post from a couple of weeks ago, he writes about a "suitor" who - horror of horrors - had to pay the same commuter tax as everyone else who lives in New Jersey but works in New York. He tries to disguise this person's identity - something I always get a laugh out of. If, as they claim, they're just following the law, why do they need to hide who they are? Anyway, though, Van Pelt not being the sharpest knife in the drawer, it took about ten minutes to figure out who this "suitor" is and pull her filing (Van Peltian nonsense all) from PACER.

Khanna Pugach is a "senior data scientist" with Credit Suisse, where she has worked for several years. She filed $0 2022 returns, claiming that her substantial income was rendered non-taxable due to her "demand for lawful money". Van Pelt posts a redacted page from a New Jersey return on his site that shows this.

It appears that New Jersey was not thrilled with this return - although, according to her, New York accepted it - and sent her a bill for what she owed. She responded by filing something called a "Certificate of Exigent Circumstances Rule B(1)(c)". 23mc291 (NYSD). I have no idea to which of the many Rules B(1)(c) she refers, and she doesn't bother to explain it - probably a good thing. The filing is gibberish anyway, in more ways than just the "redeem" nonsense. For example, it goes into David's delusion that a DJ's oath of office must conform to what he wants or it is "invalid" - and presumably whoever cites that invalidity has a "Get Out of Jail Free" card for a subject of her choice. It claims that, if a state official disagrees with this revealed wisdom, s/he is personally liable to, well, Khanna Pugach for, well, something. No, none of this makes any sense, but we are talking about Van Pelt.

The kicker is that Ms. Pugach does seem to have something on the ball, if only because she makes good money as a professional at a major financial institution. Making her conduct the more puzzling is that Credit Suisse is quite unlikely to appreciate this in an employee. We know that Van Pelt doesn't give a shit about people he gets in trouble - but why doesn't she realize that this is not a good career move? Greed, yes, but she must know that, if she persists, her employer is very likely to learn of this, if only when it receives the wage levy.

I gotta believe that someone in a responsible position with Credit Suisse knows you can't just sprinkle pixie dust on income to make it non-taxable. We've said as much about other generally responsible folks like airline pilots and chiros, who tend to be over-represented amongst tax idiots. While individuals may find themselves in desperate straights, the only general conclusion I see is that greed is indeed a powerful motivator.

[Burnaby49]

A question from a non-local. What is the commuter tax and how much is she evading paying with her idiotic lawful money claim?

[wserra]

Commuter tax: two jurisdictions each have an income tax, and you live in one and work in the other. The theory is that you are using taxpayer-financed services in both jurisdictions, so you should contribute. The tax in the employment jurisdiction is typically a fraction of that in the resident jurisdiction.

How much: well, the tax bill she got from NJ, her state of residence (which she courteously attaches to the filing, above), shows income of $128K, on which NJ is billing her $6K. NY tax on that amount would be about the same for a resident. There is computation involved as to partial credits and the like, which we'd need more info to compute - and which the states are unlikely to compute for her, since she filed a return showing income of $0. Yet another example of someone screwing herself.

And then there's the IRS. Given that both NJ and NY base their income taxes on the 1040 numbers, I think we can reliably conclude that Pugach filed the same BS with the feds.

ETA: it may be that Pugach is not only evading NJ tax, but is seeking a refund of the NY commuter tax withheld from her paycheck. Given the (extremely) fuzzy thinking throughout, it's not clear.

[Burnaby49]

Thanks, a totally new tax to me. I'd not heard of two separate income taxes based on the location of residency and employment. We don't have municipal income tax here, municipalities can only levy property tax.

I live in Burnaby, a separate municipality from Vancouver although if I stand on my doorstep and look west I can see Vancouver just two blocks away. I worked in downtown Vancouver for 35 years. As I understand your analysis if we had the same tax system here I would have paid income tax in both Vancouver and Burnaby while employed although much less in Vancouver. When I retired my Vancouver liability would have ended.

If she's been avoiding federal income tax too she's really screwed herself. Not that I have the slightest sympathy.

[wserra]

As I understand your analysis if we had the same tax system here I would have paid income tax in both Vancouver and Burnaby while employed although much less in Vancouver. When I retired my Vancouver liability would have ended.

Exactly. For many years, I lived in Westchester County (suburbs immediately north of NYC) but my office was in NYC. During that time, I paid NYS tax and NYC commuter tax.

[wserra]

Following up on Khanna Pugach, the Credit Suisse "senior data scientist" who claims to believe that you can make income non-taxable by sprinkling pixie dust on it: I didn't wait for the inevitable dismissal before posting. It arrived, sua sponte, about a month after my post (October 23, 2023). It basically says that you can't open a docket, even a mc, just to rant. Following the Van Pelt playbook, she then files a "refusal for cause" as to the dismissal order and a whole bunch of other things she doesn't like. Those include the oaths of office of multiple DJs - some of whom have nothing to do with the case - and a bill from NJ for $7.6K in unpaid taxes.

She then (10-24-23) refiles in District Court. 23-cv-9355 (NYSD). The Court promptly transfers it to New Jersey, as it concerns a NJ state income tax. 23-cv-22363 (DNJ). On Dec 11, 2023, the NJ case was dismissed because Pugach refused to either pay the filing fee or file an IFP (in forma pauperis) application. She, of course, refuses that for cause as well. Sure, Khanna, you're special. Why should rules that apply to everyone also apply to you?

This time, however, she considerately files the full billing notice from NJ, which shows 2022 wages from Credit Suisse of $128K. Moreover, she also attaches copies of several paychecks, which she endorses "Deposit for credit on account or exchange for non-negotiable federal reserve notes of face value per 12 USC 411. By: Khanna DBA KHANNA PUGACH". How can someone in a responsible position - a responsible financial position, no less - be this dumb?

Keep it up, Khanna. When Credit Suisse catches wind of this, you're likely history.

And good work, David.

[Pottapaug1938]

Viewing khmacdowell's post from November of 2019, I saw the following:


(1) Gold has inherent value. It's a good conductor and it's unreactive. But it didn't at the time in human history when it became a standard coinage metal. It was used for coins only for the unreactive part, which is simply analogous to the property of paper money and current coins to be very durable.

Gold no more has inherent or intrinsic value than does any other metal. Gold and other "precious metals" get their value because most people believe that they have monetary value, and are willing to pay to get some. Scarcity is also a factor -- for many years, aluminum was thought to have an intrinsic value, such that France even considered using it in its high denomination coins; but once aluminum became easily available in plentiful amounts, that killed its monetary value. If, somehow, a deposit of gold was found which would dwarf the amount of gold mined by humans throughout our history, gold would suffer the same fate. We'd use it for things like replacing lead in firearms ammunition, for use as sinkers for those who like to fish, as ballast, and more.