Paying Taxes Makes Them Go Scot-Free
An election lawyer was asked about the matter who simply said what matters is that the candidate paid the right taxes from his or her income including the excess campaign funds. This way, no law is violated. In fact, the lawyer even lauded candidates who honestly report campaign fund excesses in their possession, saying these candidates can always opt not to do it and keep everything for themselves.
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However, this lawyer also felt that the right way to handle such funds was to consider them “quasi public.” This would stop candidates from pocketing leftover campaign funds from donations.
They “Run to Earn Money”
Lawyer Rona Ann V. Caritos, who is executive director at the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE), believes that there are candidates who run just to make big money.
“It’s a reality,” she claims. “Some people run to earn money — to gain something from the campaign donation.”
Caritos said candidates should plan their campaigns more effectively. Excess funds may reflect poor planning and strategies. “If you did not spend all of the donations,” she says, “there could have been a flaw in the campaign plan somehow.”
Damaso Magbual of National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), for his part, said that how we use excess campaign funds should be defined by law. “If there is a law, they could even say that that should go to the national government,” he said.
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