Thread: Mitt Romney to release tax returns Tuesday

Mitt Romney to release tax returns Tuesday

Reuters – 2 hrs 54 mins ago...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney said on Sunday he will release tax returns for the last two years this week and admitted the flap over his returns hurt him in South Carolina, where he lost a primary to Newt Gingrich.

"I will release my tax returns for 2010, which is the last returns which were completed, on Tuesday of this week," Romney said on Fox News Sunday. "And I will also release at the same time an estimate for 2011 tax returns."

"We made a mistake holding off as long as we did and it just was a distraction," the former Massachusetts governor added.

Gingrich won 40 percent of the vote in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, while Romney came in a distant second with 28 percent.

Romney, one of the wealthiest U.S. presidential candidates in history, emphasized he was releasing two years of returns after Gingrich posted his returns for only 2010 on Thursday.

Gingrich and other Republican rivals attacked Romney in debates last week, asking why the former private equity executive would not release his returns.

Romney had said he would release them in April and also paved the way for the disclosure by saying he paid a tax rate of around 15 percent, below many American wage earners, but in line with wealthy individuals who earn income from investments.

Romney said his returns will be posted on his website.

Mitt Romney to release tax returns Tuesday - Yahoo! News

I don't see why his tax returns are such a big deal. Assuming everything he does tax wise is legal, whose business is it what he does with this money? The way I see it the more money he has the less likely he is to become corrupted by big business and corporations. It's really wild how liberal America seems to have a serious problem with anyone that has wealth. I guess it all comes down to envy and greed.

Originally Posted by MW

I don't see why his tax returns are such a big deal. Assuming everything he does tax wise is legal, whose business is it what he does with this money? The way I see it the more money he has the less likely he is to become corrupted by big business and corporations. It's really wild how liberal America seems to have a serious problem with anyone that has wealth. I guess it all comes down to envy and greed.

It wasn't a big deal until Mitt made it a big deal by not handling the question very well during the debates. He looked weird and uncomfortable whenever it came up. Why?

I guess it all comes down to being ashamed of something or he's hiding something?

It's funny though. He and his Super PACs spent the most money in South Carolina (I think more than everyone else combined), yet he couldn't beat the adulterer. Ron Paul would have put that money to better use. How about giving it to the military families in S.C instead of on dumb negative ads. That would have won him the primary.

No candidate for office should be asked or expected to release or publish their tax returns to the general public. They aren't required to do so by law. Instead they take the time to file complex and thorough financial disclosure statements with the FEC which are also released to the public and by certain dates if they are the nominee file tax returns with the FEC which remain confidential as they should.

To Republicans in South Carolina, I'm shocked that people involved with the South Carolina Republican Primary would think income tax returns for a tax we want to eliminate are relevant to a Presidential primary election.

Very disappointing.

Originally Posted by MW

I don't see why his tax returns are such a big deal. Assuming everything he does tax wise is legal, whose business is it what he does with this money? The way I see it the more money he has the less likely he is to become corrupted by big business and corporations. It's really wild how liberal America seems to have a serious problem with anyone that has wealth. I guess it all comes down to envy and greed.

It's Gingrich who is pressuring Romney to release his tax returns.

Gingrich voluntarily revealed his income, detailed expenses and tax expenditures in a move designed to put pressure on front-runner Mitt Romney, who has been under pressure to release his own tax returns.

http://www.alipac.us/f19/gingrich-re...x-rate-248815/

No one does well being the target of their own party when they've done nothing wrong to deserve it. Rick Perry crossed the line on the tax return issue against Romney. New Gingrich crossed the line on the Bain Capital issue against Romney. Santorum crossed the line on the Massachusetts health care plan issue against Romney.

Romney and Paul are gentlemen and the others cornered losers. I think Romney has the best chance to beat Obama if Republican contenders don't destroy him first with lies and innuendo.

Why South Carolina would attack a Mormon Republican with 1 wife because he didn't want to release a tax return he's not required to release on an income tax we want to eliminate and then vote for a Catholic Republican with 3 wives who didn't want to answer questions about statements made by his second-wife he cheated on for 6 years with a member of his Congressional staff while he was trying to impeach a President for having an affair with an intern and while he himself is violating ethic rules as Speaker of the House over a book deal leading to his forced resignation from Congress is really just beyond me.

The irony of it will not be lost on anyone with 2 live brain cells still connected.

Republicans, as good as it may feel to have someone like Newt yell down the media over a question he didn't want to answer, when the glee of that moment settles down, most will realize that cheating on your sick second wife for 6 years with a mistress who becomes your third wife is not the definition of "pain" or "painful" in the English language. It's the complete opposite.

Please beware of anyone who could even temporarily convince you otherwise.

Originally Posted by Judy

I think Romney has the best chance to beat Obama if Republican contenders don't destroy him first with lies and innuendo..

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Would you say the GOP is controlled from bottom up or the top down?

Romney to release tax returns Tuesday, admits error in delay

AP
Last Updated: 11:52 AM, January 22, 2012
Posted: 11:52 AM, January 22, 2012

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday that he will release his 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimates on Tuesday, acknowledging it was a mistake for his campaign not to have done so earlier.

Stung by a loss to Newt Gingrich in Saturday's South Carolina primary, the former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist said it was "not a good week for me" and he cited all the time he had spent talking about his tax returns as his rivals pressed him to make them public.

After months of resistance, Romney had said last week that he would release tax information for 2011, but not until April, close to the tax filing deadline. That also was seen as a time, before the South Carolina race rattled his front-runner status, when the GOP nomination might have been decided.

"I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It just was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign: leadership, character, a vision for America, how to get jobs again in America and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," Romney told "Fox News Sunday."

Romney disclosed on Tuesday that, despite his wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars, he has been paying in the neighborhood of 15 percent, far below the top maximum income tax rate of 35 percent, because his income "comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past."

"Given all the attention that's been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in these last couple of weeks," Romney said in the broadcast interview that he would release his 2010 returns and estimates for his 2011 returns at the same time "so there's not a second release down the road."

"We'll be putting our returns on the Internet, people can look through them," Romney said. "It will provide, I think, plenty of information for people to understand that the sources of my income are exactly as described in the financial disclosure statements we put out a couple of months ago.

During 2010 and the first nine months of 2011, the Romney family had at least $9.6 million in income, according to a financial disclosure form submitted in August.

Further focusing attention on his wealth was Romney's offhand remark to reporters that his income from paid speeches amounted to "not very much" money. In the August disclosure statement, he reported being paid $373,327.62 for such appearances for the 12 months ending last February. That sum alone would him in the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers.

In addition, Romney owns investments worth between $7 million and $32 million in offshore-based holdings, which are often used legitimately by private equity firms to attract foreign investors. Such offshore accounts also can enable wealthy investors to defer paying U.S. taxes on some assets, according to tax experts.

An Associated Press examination of Romney's financial records identified at least six funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a small Caribbean island chain that has long been used as a base for international investments because of low tax rates and financial secrecy. Romney has acknowledged that some of his investments are based in the Caymans, but he has not identified all of the specific accounts and the amounts based there. There is no indication Romney uses the accounts to dodge any U.S. tax obligations.

"Cayman Islands account so-to-speak is apparently an investment that was made in an entity that invests in the United States, the taxes paid on that are full U.S. taxes," Romney said.

The Caymans have often been associated with individuals and corporations seeking to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It is legal for U.S. residents to own investment accounts that are set up there, if they file the proper forms with the Internal Revenue Service and pay the appropriate taxes.

"I know people will try and find something," Romney said, adding, "We pay full, fair taxes, and you'll see it's a pretty substantial amount."

GOP hopeful Mitt Romney to release tax returns Tuesday, admits mistake in delay - NYPOST.com