Ten is a Good Number for Romney, but the Rest of Us Only Rate a Two

Mitt Romney has finally released a second year of his tax returns. The latest release shows he paid a rate of 14.1% for the year ending on December 31, 2011. The return also shows that he only claimed a portion of his actual charitable contributions for tax deduction purposes. Claiming the full amount of his charitable contributions would have reduced his taxable income to around 10%, well below the 14.1% rate that he paid last year.  And well below the 13% he insists is the lowest rate he paid.

what eye thynk:    Before we congratulate Mr. Romney on choosing to limit his deductions for 2011, let us remember that Mr. Romney has every right to file an amended tax return next year that will allow him to claim the balance of the charitible donations he chose not to claim in 2011 thus reducing his 2012 tax liability to...zero? 

I know Mr. Romney keeps saying we should trust him on that minimum of 13% rate, but "trust" and "politician"--any politician--are not words that sit well together.   I just can't keep from wondering what it is he's hiding.

So, for my own peace of mind, I’d like to see another eight years to know if, in previous years, he claimed 100% of his very commendable donations and reduced his earlier tax bills to below the 13% mark. It seems obvious that he manipulated last year’s tax return to make himself look as good as possible during his run for the White House; but what about the years when he didn’t plan ahead for closer scrutiny?

I’d like to see another eight years of tax returns to know if he used tax sheltered accounts in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda or Switzerland to avoid paying taxes to the country he wants to lead.

I’d like to see another eight years of tax returns to know if he used any of the questionable income switching techniques that some private equity firms like to use…the same techniques currently under investigation by the I.R.S.

I’d like to see another eight years just because it seems fair. After all, he required those he was considering for his running mate to disclose ten years of their tax returns to him.

I'd like to see another eight years because, if I’m going to enter into a four year contract with someone who can't seem to stay on the same side of any issue long enough to form a shadow, I feel I deserve to see more than two measly tax returns. After all, it was Mitt’s dad, George, who, after releasing twelve years of tax returns during his run for the presidency, said “One year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show.” Of course, George Romney’s returns showed that, over that twelve year period, he had paid an average tax rate of approximately 50%…which looks a lot better on a presidential candidate than the 14.1 and 13.9 percents that Mitt has produced.

On Friday, CNN quoted Romney as saying that the obsession with his tax returns is “small minded”. I prefer to think of it as due diligence.