Romney releases 2011 tax returns!
NEW YORK (PNN) - September 21, 2012 - Presidential candidate Mitt Romney paid $1.95 million in taxes on his 2011 investment income of $13.7 million, his campaign revealed on Friday, making good on Romney’s promise earlier this year to eventually release his full returns for that year.
Romney, who made millions by running Bain Capital, a private equity firm, paid an effective federal tax rate of 14.1% in taxes, primarily because most of his income was in the form of capital gains that are taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income. Romney has said that he has paid at least 13% in federal income taxes in each of the last 10 years.
In order for that claim to be true in 2011, Romney had to voluntarily take a smaller deduction than he was entitled to for his charitable deductions, his advisers said Friday.
Romney and his wife, Ann, donated about $4 million to charity in 2011, but claimed only $2.25 million as a deduction. The campaign said that Romney’s tax liability would have been far lower in 2011 had the Romneys claimed the full deduction for their charitable contributions.
“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,” said R. Bradford Malt, Romney’s trustee.
However, it is possible that Romney could still deduct the unclaimed amount of his charitable donations in future tax years, experts said.
The Republican presidential nominee, who released his 2010 tax returns in January, continues to refuse demands from illegitimate President Obama’s campaign and other Democrats to release multiple years of his returns. Obama has sought to portray Romney as an out-of-touch millionaire who used offshore accounts and accounting gimmicks to reduce his tax liability.
Romney’s campaign has argued that his personal wealth is not relevant to the broader debate about who is best able to lead the country out of a sluggish economy.