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"Unemployed" Mitt Romney Had 13.9% Tax Rate On $21.7 Million
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 24, 2012
Modified Jan 24, 2012
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jan 24, 2012
Modified Jan 24, 2012
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Because a guy named "Brad" is in the office today, the country has been graced with Mitt Romney's tax returns. They show that in 2010 the candidate earned $21.7 million, and paid $3 million in federal taxes, for an effective tax rate of 13.9%. Romney also gave $2.98 million to charity, $1.5 million of which went to the Mormon Church. Reuters also reports that Romney closed down accounts in Switzerland and the Caymans that year "after an investment advisor decided it could be politically embarrassing to Romney."
Romney also failed to sound like a normal human being when asked about his taxes during last night's debate. "I pay all the taxes that are legally required, not a dollar more," he nobly said. Didn't he crib that from the opening line of the Gettysburg Address?
Romney also released information regarding his 2011 return: he made $20.9 million and paid $3.23 million in taxes, and gave $4 million to charity, $2.6 million of which went to the Mormon Church. That's a 15.4% effective tax rate, considerably lower than the standard rate of 35%, thanks to most of Romney's income earned as capital gains.
The candidate is refusing to release more than two years worth of returns—wonder why? His father George Romney, who is believed to be the first major politician to do so, released 12 years of tax returns, saying, “One year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show.”
Mayor Bloomberg notes that he "paid the highest personal income tax rate," which would be 35%. “I don’t even have carried interest or any of those things. I don’t even have a lot of capital gains. It’s virtually none. It is all the income from the company and it’s taxable as ordinary income, and I pay the highest rate, state, city and federal.”
The mayor also told the Times that if it were up to him, Romney would have made considerably less money: “If it were up to me, I would end the concept of carried interest. In every industry there are things that were put there perhaps to encourage or discourage certain kinds of economic activity, but that may not be appropriate today.” Whoa, has Mike gone all Bob Cratchit on us?
So Romney made $42.5 million in two years and paid less than a 15% effective rate: not bad for a guy who's unemployed. What kind of sucker pays 26%?
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2012 election
gop
mitt romney
Mormons
republicans
rich people
taxes
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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