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News & ArtsFriday, September 21, 2012
2012 Looks Like There's a Whole Lot of Nothing in Mitt Romney's Taxes
Posted by Paul Constant on Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 2:29 PM
I've now scraped my eyes over every page of Mitt Romney's 2011 tax returns, even though I didn't understand most of what I saw. But here's what I think: There's virtually nothing of interest there. There are lots of investments in Google and Lululemon and Walmart of Mexico. There's the money we've already learned about hidden away in the Caymans and the British Virgin Islands and the Netherlands and Germany. But all the forms describing those foreign investments are followed up with this phrase:
This part, the bottom part, is the relevant bit: "The PFIC is held indirectly through Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners, LLC and Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners III, LLC. The number of shares is unknown." It seems that Romney has managed to keep his foreign money tucked away from the press. Again.
And why wouldn't he? Romney knew he'd be running for president. He understood that he'd have to divulge this return at some point (even though he almost definitely underestimated how important his tax returns would be to the election process).He had plenty of time to scrub and cleanse everything. I have no doubt that his returns from twelve years ago are incriminating, full of the kinds of things that would give journalists months of material: Cheats, unethical investments, an even more obvious lack of faith in American investments. But by now, we're all pretty jaded by the information in these tax returns, and the amount of control Romney has exercised over them. Hell, he even picked the tax rate he wanted to pay and adjusted his charitable giving to reflect that number. It's so tightly controlled, it's intentionally boring. This whole tax release thing is exactly like Mitt Romney: Wooden, predictable, unexciting, with a whiff of something awful leaking in around the edges.
3
Paul, of course Retroactive Man "picked the tax rate he wanted", He's freaking Retroactive Man. Why would you expect anything less?
Gay Dude for Retroactive Man.
Gay Dude for Retroactive Man.
4
I'm not bored with the fact that he timed it perfectly to keep the story simmering even longer and inflict maximum damage on himself. Imagine if this man was in charge, doing for the country what he does to his campaign every day?
6
Walmart of Mexico? That company has been embroiled in a huge bribery scandal. That doesn't look so good. There have also been allegations that drug money is involved. How often can a man say "I don't have anything to do with my money" before it begins to sound sinister?
8
Ah yes, the Spirit of Charity... "What's the minimum I need to donate to charity in order to put myself into a bracket in which I ultimately get back more money for myself?"
9
Real News sources are also talking about the certified summary of his taxes from 1990 – 2009 that he also released today. http://www.mittromney.com/disclosure/let…
One of many little nuggets in there: On average he spent 38.49% of his income on taxes and charitable donations.
Also, contrary to Liberal speculation, there never was a year he did not pay taxes, and while he never paid less than 13.66%, his average federal tax rate was 20.20%.
Not quite the tax dodger that the Stranger said/implied he was.
One of many little nuggets in there: On average he spent 38.49% of his income on taxes and charitable donations.
Also, contrary to Liberal speculation, there never was a year he did not pay taxes, and while he never paid less than 13.66%, his average federal tax rate was 20.20%.
Not quite the tax dodger that the Stranger said/implied he was.
10
Here's an interesting aspect of this. We don't know how much the LDS is spending on political action, as they haven't made financial statements public since 1958. How much of these tax-free donations actually bounce back and pay for his own campaign?
Here's a general article on the issue of corporations using charitable organizations for tax-free lobbying.
Here's a general article on the issue of corporations using charitable organizations for tax-free lobbying.
11
@10
So Romney gives money to his church.
Which reduces Romney's federal taxes.
And Romney is high enough in his church to tell it how to spend his tithe.
So, in effect, Romney is taking tax money from the government and using it through his church.
So Romney gives money to his church.
Which reduces Romney's federal taxes.
And Romney is high enough in his church to tell it how to spend his tithe.
So, in effect, Romney is taking tax money from the government and using it through his church.
13
@9- Why the hell are you putting his charitable donations in with his taxes.
He pays a lower effective tax rate than I do, but claims I'm a whiny victim and his taxes need to be reduced.
What a douche.
He pays a lower effective tax rate than I do, but claims I'm a whiny victim and his taxes need to be reduced.
What a douche.
15
30% of his income to charity as compared to Joe Biden's $369. Shit, I give more to charity than Joe Biden both in absolute and relative amounts.
16
Mitt Romney would rather we spend the weekend discussing how rich he is than discussing how callous he is towards the needs of the elderly and veterans.
17
Here comes yet another week where the focus will be on something other than the economy. And to think he could have put this year's returns behind him on April 15th. Mind boggling.
And this comes after a week where practically every story about Romney or Ryan mentioned Romney's comments on the hidden video, so just showing up in public and doing something newsworthy did them further damage.
Question to the accountants out there: Let's say Romney paid no taxes in 2008 because of declared investment losses and charitable giving. Could he amend them and un-declare those deductions and then pay what he now owes?
And this comes after a week where practically every story about Romney or Ryan mentioned Romney's comments on the hidden video, so just showing up in public and doing something newsworthy did them further damage.
Question to the accountants out there: Let's say Romney paid no taxes in 2008 because of declared investment losses and charitable giving. Could he amend them and un-declare those deductions and then pay what he now owes?
18
Here’s a summary of what’s in Romney’s 2011 tax returns from his trustee, Brad Malt. This section seems to be garnering lots of attention:
* The Romneys donated $4,020,772 to charity in 2011, amounting to nearly 30% of their income.
* The Romneys claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of those charitable contributions.
* The Romneys’ generous charitable donations in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year. The Romneys thus limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the Governor’s statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13% in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.
Let’s review: 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 9 to 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.”
Meanwhile, at first glance, it appears that Harry Reid’s infamous source alleging that Romney paid nothing in taxes for 10 years was incorrect—at least for the years 1990 to 2009. According to the notarized summary from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, “Over the entire 20-year period, the lowest annual effective federal personal tax rate [paid by the Romneys] was 13.66%.”
Update: The Romney campaign has clarified its position on paying too much tax in an e-mail to Buzzfeed: “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.”
More...
* The Romneys donated $4,020,772 to charity in 2011, amounting to nearly 30% of their income.
* The Romneys claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of those charitable contributions.
* The Romneys’ generous charitable donations in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year. The Romneys thus limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the Governor’s statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13% in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.
Let’s review: 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 9 to 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.”
Meanwhile, at first glance, it appears that Harry Reid’s infamous source alleging that Romney paid nothing in taxes for 10 years was incorrect—at least for the years 1990 to 2009. According to the notarized summary from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, “Over the entire 20-year period, the lowest annual effective federal personal tax rate [paid by the Romneys] was 13.66%.”
Update: The Romney campaign has clarified its position on paying too much tax in an e-mail to Buzzfeed: “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.”
19
What an asshole. He states he would never pay more in taxes than he has to, but then when it contradicts with his 13% statement, he goes against his own word.
Who is really going to vote for this guy?
Who is really going to vote for this guy?
20
Even better, he can file an addendum after the election to claw back that 4 or 5 percent he's currently fudging with this joke of a return.
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