In response to my column, from a reader:

Jonah,
I am a tax accountant. I do not have Turbo Tax software (software Geithner claimed he used) from the years at issue w/ Geithner, but my experience with all computer tax software is that when you enter a 1099-MISC (which he likely received from World Bank for his income) Self Employment taxes are automatically computed. Meaning he would actually have to go thru the step of overriding (deleting) the tax computed. More evidence this is not a “mistake”.
Maybe a blogger you know can summon the forces of conservative tax accountants to run a test on the old turbo tax software.

Actually, my understanding is that Glenn Beck actually did this on his TV show the other night (I didn’t see it, but they mentioned it on Fox and Friends the following morning). Apparently, Turbo Tax issues a pop-up warning if you do what Geithner did “by accident.”

Update: A dissent on Turbo Tax.

Update II: From a reader:

Your correspondent says: “when you enter a 1099-MISC (which he likely received from World Bank for his income)” It’s my understanding that part of the problem Geithner ran into was that he didn’t receive a 1099, he received a W-2. See the NYT article: “He said that income reported on W-2 forms usually had payroll taxes withheld. But, he said, the W-2 forms sent out by the I.M.F. say simply “none” on those lines. Since Mr. Geithner probably described himself as an employee, the software would not have prompted him to file a Schedule SE, which is used by the self-employed to file payroll taxes, Mr. Gruen said.”