Friday, September 21, 2012

Romney Dumps "A" Tax Return, So . . . There, Take That!


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Just the one for 2011. Tax Rate: 14%.

View Document Here: New York Daily News

From Bloomberg
Romney and his wife, Ann, have paid 100 percent of the taxes they owe, Brad Malt, a partner at the law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston who manages the Romneys’ investments, wrote in a blog post on the campaign’s website.

Romney makes most of his income from investing an estimated $250 million fortune, and much of that income is taxed at a top rate of 15 percent, rather than the top rate of 35 percent that applies to wages. Romney, 65, is a former Massachusetts governor and co-founder of Bain Capital LLC, the Boston-based private equity firm.

. . . The campaign said it will release a letter from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which prepares Romney’s returns, summarizing his filings for the past 20 years.

More From Ezra Klein's Wonk Blog on Washington Post
In 2011, Romney earned $14 million, mostly from investments that are taxed at a lower, preferential rate. He also gave a very large amount of money to charity—more than $4 million. So, thanks to the charitable deduction in the tax code, he was technically allowed to reduce the amount of income subject to the income tax even further.

The trouble is, if Romney did that, he would have ended up paying less than 13 percent of his income in federal taxes (back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest the amount would have likely been somewhere around 11 percent). That would have conflicted with his statement in August that he has paid at least 13 percent the past ten years. So Romney opted to limit his charitable deduction to just $2.25 million, essentially agreeing to pay the government more in taxes than he needed to. In the end, Romney had an effective federal tax rate of 14.1 percent.

There’s nothing wrong with voluntarily donating a bit more to reduce the federal deficit. Although there is this awkward quote from Romney during a primary debate in January: “I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more,” he said. “I don’t think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes.”


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An email to the Romney campaign account dedicated to responding to questions about tax returns, returns@mittromney.com, produced this response:
He has been clear that no American need pay more than he or she owes under the law. At the same time, he was in the unique position of having made a commitment to the public that his tax rate would be above 13%. In order to be consistent with that statement, the Romneys limited their deduction of charitable contributions.
~ BuzzFeed

I read the 13.66% over the 20 yr. period to be the average tax rate. If this were true there is the possibility that he could very well have not paid any taxes in certain years but higher rates in others to average it out to the 13.66%. Hisrate would have been higher when he was salaried at Bain. Harry Reid might yet have a point.
~ comment by Calibrese on WaPo Wonkblog


At first I thought this was an April Fool's Joke. But it isn't April. I can't imagine that David Axelrod will now say, I'm glad Mitt put this issue behind him. This will drag Mitt's taxes back into the debate. And there's not many days left. I just can't imagine why they would do this. There are 40 days left and you have now made more of them about Mitt's taxes....you don't serve a life sentence and then confess afterward. They've taken their beating on this (already) ... I just don't understand how a (being) 'little pregnant' strategy (works).
~ Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos via Politico.com


Mitt's Desperate Friday News Dump
In the near future, I think we might be able look back to say that this was the week the Mitt Romney campaign entered its death throes. I suppose some miracle cure is still possible, but given that his vice presidential pick is getting pelted by boos from seniors and he himself was caught on tape calling half the nation shiftless moochers, sending things so off the rails that Mitt now wants to talk about his tax returns, of all things, you know the Romney camp is in quite a panic. That's a hell of a Friday news dump.
Mind you, he's still not releasing those tax returns. He's released the much-promised 2011 version, finally, but the rest of it is not really tax returns, but an artist's interpretation of what his tax returns would look like, if he did release him. A very polite and notarized letter from his mother doctor accountant saying please excuse Mitt Romney from releasing his tax returns as other presidential candidates have. I sincerely promise everything is on the up-and-up in there and there is no reason to look any further; signed, some guys paid by Mitt Romney to say this
~ Hunter on Daily Kos

It just kills me that he pays a much lower tax rate than I do, and I actually work for a living. I am part of the 53%. I don't want my tax rate lowered. I want Mitt's raised. I like national parks, education, healthcare, veteran's benefits, etc., and I am willing to pay for them.
~ comment by blue jersey mom on Daily Kos

This was so stupid of Mitt to release today. The 47% klusterf*!k is baked in and dying down. The MSM has talked about it non-stop for the past week. The press was looking for a new shiny object to fawn over & this big dummy just added a new layer for MSM to talk about for the next few days. I think Mitt is working for the Obama campaign. I LOVE IT!!
~ comment by shevas01 on Daily Kos

if you listen closely you might be able to hear the sound of a nail going into a coffin, its the first nail but a nail none the less, more nails to follow i am sure, stay tuned america.
~ comment by PC on Daily Kos


































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