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What's in there? (photo: 401(K) 2012 / flickr)
The Romney campaign says it is finally going to release his 2011 tax returns, as he has been promising for awhile. The campaign announcement about the release was accompanied by some basic facts about what is in them. For example, Romney paid an effective tax rate of only 14.1 percent in 2011.
In addition to facts about his 2011 tax returns, the Romney campaign for some strange reason also chose to use this moment to make some some big declarations about his past tax returns. From the Romney campaign:
Regarding the PWC letter covering the Romneys’ tax filings over 20 years, from 1990 – 2009:
- In each year during the entire 20-year period, the Romneys owed both state and federal income taxes.
- Over the entire 20-year period, the average annual effective federal tax rate was 20.20%.
- Over the entire 20-year period, the lowest annual effective federal personal tax rate was 13.66%.
- Over the entire 20-year period, the Romneys gave to charity an average of 13.45% of their adjusted gross income.
- Over the entire 20-year period, the total federal and state taxes owed plus the total charitable donations deducted represented 38.49% of total AGI.
During the 20-year period covered by the PWC letter, Gov. and Mrs. Romney paid 100 percent of the taxes that they owed.
I don’t see what including this information is suppose to accomplish. It only serves as a reminder to everyone that Romney stubbornly refuses to release more than two years of returns.
Romney choosing to release only selective details about his past returns only gives credence to the idea that what is in past tax returns should matter. Yet that just makes Romney’s refusal to fully disclose his returns seem that much weirder.
This letter is a lot of effort to go through to create the veneer of disclosure while still keeping the actually information secret. It begs that question, if Romney is willing to disclose this much information about his tax returns, what is in them that he doesn’t want people to know about?
Dday has more and more.
28 Comments
I see old Mittens “voluntarily” didn’t take the maximum allowable deduction for charitable deductions, after all he had to come in at or above that confiscatory tax rate of 13%
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/21/romney-cut-deductions-on-2011-taxes-to-maintain-campaign-pledge.html
Oh great another trust me moment!
Dear Mitt and Ann:
Show. Us. the. Returns.
Signed,
American Voters (“you people”)
Why would you group taxes and charitable contributions together? Because they look at taxes as charity for the moochers. This is also what they imply when they tell people (like Brown did to Warren last night) that they should give “give extra” on their tax returns instead of raising taxes for everyone.
Taxes aren’t charity. They aren’t punishment for success. They’re responsibility.
Wake me up when we’ve fixed the tax code such that Romney pays $10 million in taxes on that much income.
You’ll notice that the documents shift from saying “income tax” to “personal tax.” He’s still covering up.
Good point. But as I said, trust me nothing to see here.
Mittens didn’t tithe 20% to the Church?
He done fucked up now.
Dear Mitt and Ann:
Screw you and the horses you rode in on.
The 47%
The tithe should be 10% (“tithe” means “tenth”).
Which means he gave to his church, plus maybe a little bit.
But he hit 30% this year (because he’s running for office, for Pete’s sake), which would raise the average. So he donates to his church and sometimes a little more.
Of course, the question is 10% of what? I have no idea what the LDS standard might be. What about money made in tax deferred accounts? That’s not part of adjusted gross, but I bet they want their share anyway.
Anyway, I don’t really care what he gives to charity or church. I care about what he gives to America, which isn’t diddley.
Mitt thinks he isslick letting us see one year of tax returns but he makes claims about 20 years of tax returns without offering evidence.
We are just suppose to trust him.
Funny how the aristocratic PoS Romney utilizes the existing tax code that he didn’t implement to pay as little as possible in taxes.
Agree on the church issue.
THis means this guy NEVER got paid in anythig other than “tax evasion” vehicles such as interest and capital gains. He NEVER received a salary for “work performed”….EVER.
As my grandpa would say, “That ain;t tax avoidance, that’s “tax evasion” and those at Bain complicit are guitly of “conspiracy”.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/17/1121206/-Ex-Fox-s-Major-Garrett-Never-Knew-Romney-Caught-Lying-On-1999-2001-Tax-Returns
Mitt has already been caught lying about his tax returns but we are just suppose to trust him now? Freakin Amateur hour you don’t run the same con on the same people all over again after you were caught running the con.
This is crime 101
It’s called carried interest. All these hedge fund pucks are taxed using the capital gains rate of fifteen percent. Great tax loop hole.
He musta NEVER watched The Rockford Files.
Two decades is an interesting number. Reid mentioned one decade. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could average in another decade of returns……….
Mitt did promise to release his tax return but I bet he hoped he would be so far ahead in the polls he would not have too. Mitt releasing his tax return shows just how weak he thinks he is.
Well I never watched the show either to be fair.
Figures lie and liars figure. I’m with Harry until the fuck . Releases. His. Tax. Returns.
Well….if you’re ever gonna run a scam, you might want to pickup the boxed set of DVD’s. Just sayin’
For some reason the phrase “limited modifed hangout” come to mind when I read this. I wasn’t sure before but now I’m sure there is something in those returns that Rmoney really doesn’t want anybody to see.
BUt, if Romney was the CEO and was being compensated accordingly, isn’t THAT salary???
Bob……could it “sound like” Cayman, Bahamas, Switzerland???
Were you too young???????
(Please recognize obvious setup here)
“Governor, have you really written off 47 % of Americans?”
“Mr. Romney, is it really appropriate to try to score cheap political points while Americans are under attack?”
“Sir, can you give us ANY idea what your policies might be?”
“If you don’t support the Ryan budget, why did you make Paul Ryan your running mate? And how EXACTLY would your budget differ from his?”
—
“Hey, guys, ahem … how about if we go back to talking about my tax returns? heh, heh”
RMoney will never ever truly release his tax returns because he has something to hide… Most likely that, in most years, he paid EVEN LESS than the 13.9% – which is LESS THAN the already low 15% capital gains tax – that showed up on that ONE YEAR tax return that he showed.
RMoney’s full of shit; he’s a cheap bastard who off-shored good US worker jobs due to running well-run companies into the ground; most likely in many years he paid NO taxes; he’s off-shored as much money as possible into secret accounts so that he can pay NO taxes.
And yet, somehow, I’m supposed to bow & scrape to this person who’s allegedly some high mucky-muck in his “church”???
Please pull the other one.
Being 1/16th Cherokee, may I offer to translate your very important and excellent piece for our Native American audience:
“Pale face speak with forked tongue. Him steal much wampum from other pale faces. His squaw is whiny bitch.”
Sorry, Native Americans use same verbiage for “whiny bitch.”
Looks like a pretty solid translation to me.