Rhymes with Baloney

Note to Ops: Do you believe everything you see on the Internet? Peter Roskam thinks you can.

Last December, alarmed homeowners waited in freezing-cold lines to pay their property taxes ahead of a deadline set by Peter Roskam's tax bill. If that was you, you may get that deduction after all. That is, provided you can believe Lake County vestigial Congressman Peter Roskam:

Illinois homeowners who prepaid this year's property taxes at the end of 2017 can deduct that payment from their itemized income tax returns. That's according to a letter from the U.S. Treasury Department to Rep. Peter Roskam, a Wheaton Republican, who was seeking clarification of an IRS advisory warning taxpayers prepayments might not be deductible.
It's official: If you prepaid your property taxes, you can deduct them from your taxes

Your LakeCountyEye obtained a copy of that Treasury Department letter. And if you are thinking about spending that tax deduction, and if your name is Kowalski, then not so fast there, Kowalski:

Dear Representative Roskam: Thank you for your letter regarding the December advisory relating to property taxes (IR-2017-210). As your letter notes, IR-2017-210 addresses payments made by taxpayers in 2017 for 2018 property taxes. As a general matter, taxpayers are permitted to deduct 2017 property taxes that were both paid and imposed in 2017. Drew Maloney Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs

Who is Drew Maloney? Your LakeCountyEye looked him up ...

The next time private equity giant Blackstone Group wants a special legislative loophole, they can call on their old friend Drew Maloney, who now works as a liaison between the Treasury Department and Congress. Before becoming the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Legislative Affairs, Maloney spent more than a decade as a lobbyist for companies that could be impacted by the financial, trade, and tax policy issues that the Treasury works on. From 2005 to 2012, Maloney was CEO of Oglivy Government Relations, one of the highest-grossing and most powerful lobbying shops in Washington. His clients at Oglivy included major financial firms like Blackstone Group, CIT Group, and Visa. Since 2012, Maloney has served as the top lobbyist for Hess Corporation, a multinational oil and gas company that has lobbied the Treasury Department on foreign policy issues involving Libya and Russia sanctions.
Meet the lobbyists Trump has appointed to run the government

Can you trust the words of any oil and gas lobbyist working for the Trump administration? Peter Roskam thinks you can. In the words of Drew Maloney: "As a general matter, absolutely!"