Previously Charles O'Byrne, an aide to Governor David Paterson, claimed he didn't pay $200,000 in income taxes between 2001 and 2005 because he was dealing with depression (and he's paid off most by now). Now, O'Byrne's lawyer says he suffered from "late-filing syndrome" that made working on his tax returns hard.
Lawyer Richard Kestenbaum said, "Most times, with professionals, these are very high-functioning people who otherwise complete all the other ordinary tasks of their life... But there is something that they can't do, and many times that causes them not to be able to file their tax returns." Oh, and another mini-bombshell: O'Byrne, who was hired as a speechwriter for Paterson in 2004 at $178,500/year, actually had $300,000 in back taxes.
The Post spoke to the American Psychiatric Association, whose spokeswoman "said there is no such disorder or syndrome in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a standard reference." And the paper also got this joking comment from an accountant: "Yes, it's quite common. A hundred percent of my clients suffer from this syndrome, and it gets especially bad every year as April 15th approaches." And an IRS spokesperson told the Daily News, "Wow."
As for Governor David Paterson, who had previously stated O'Byrne told him about his tax issues in 2004 and said he was working on it (of course, O'Byrne didn't file his 2004 or 2005 returns), he said, "He showed poor judgment."
