Obama trade nominee to pay $10,000 in back taxes

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's nominee to be U.S. trade representative, former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, has agreed to pay nearly $10,000 in back taxes after errors were found in his past returns, the Senate Finance Committee said on Monday.

Kirk is the fifth of Obama's nominees to run into trouble over unpaid taxes following Obama's campaign promises to bring a higher standard of ethics into government.

White House officials described Kirk's errors as minor. "We are confident that Mayor Kirk will be confirmed," said White House spokesman Ben LaBolt.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, said he believed Kirk was "the right person for this job" and promised to move his nomination quickly. The panel will hold a hearing on Kirk's nomination next Monday.

A review of Kirk's tax returns for 2004 through 2007 revealed he failed to pay income taxes on $37,750 in speaking fees he donated to his alma mater, Austin College.

He also claimed a bigger expense for Dallas Maverick basketball tickets and for tax and accounting fees he paid as a partner in his law firm than he was entitled.

The panel also found errors in Kirk's charitable deductions that prompted him to revalue a television set he donated at $1,500 instead of $3,000.

Kirk, who was picked by Obama in December for the trade job, told the panel he initially believed the speaking fees he received were not taxable because he gave them to Austin College to fulfill a scholarship pledge.