Allegation: White House Counsel Gregory Craig's wife may have avoided D.C. taxes

Craig: "Honey, I'm home. Did the tax man call?"

Gawker has a story up that I really hope doesn't pan out, because it's really getting tiresome to find out how many folks among the Washington elite really don't think rules apply to them.

Gawker reports that Derry Noyes, the wife of long-time big-shot Washington lawyer and now White House Counsel, "runs Noyes Graphics, a design business, out of the couple's home in northwest Washington."

So?? Well...

Operating a business out of one's home in D.C. requires a home occupation permit and registration with the city's division of corporations. Additionally, the government has instituted a new requirement for business license permits.

A spokesman at the Washington D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs told Gawker that no one has ever sought any kind of permit or registration for a business under the name of Noyes Graphics or at the Craigs' home address. By not registering Craig may have avoided local business taxes.

Noyes Graphics is the real deal, with a number of public listings, including this one, and Derry Noyes is fairly well known for her graphic design work.

Among his myriad important responsibilities at the White House, Craig became the Administration's chief vetter of Obama's nominees after the earlier tax-related embarrassments.

Let's hope that Craig hasn't been so busy at the office that he didn't find time to put his and his wife's business and tax affairs into good order.

If you started a home-based business, isn't the first question you would ask be, with what local laws and regulations do you have to comply -- even without a spouse who is a high-powered lawyer?

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