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Posted on 01/17/2012 12:37:34 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
After weeks of stalling, Mitt Romney did an about-face on Tuesday and said he will release his tax returns in April and that they will show he pays close to 15 percent of his income in taxes.
Romney, a multimillionaire, has been under pressure from his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination and others to release the information. He'd previously said he wouldn't release it. He suggested Tuesday that he would make public only one year's worth of information, for 2011.
Speaking to reporters after a campaign stop in South Carolina, Romney said most of his income comes from investments, not regular wages and salary. The tax rate on investment income is 15 percent, much lower than the 35 percent rate applied to wages for those in the highest tax bracket.
"What's the effective rate I've been paying? It's probably closer to the 15 percent rate than anything," Romney said. "Because my last 10 years, I've ... my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past, rather than ordinary income or rather than earned annual. I got a little bit of income from my book, but I gave that all away. And then I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
How did you” pay cap gains near 40% to the Feds every year” if the long term cap gains rate is 15%? Am I losing something in the translation?
Are you self employed?
Of not, you should only be paying about $70.00 in SS monthly, and zero in fed income taxes (or getting it all back at the end).
If you’re self employed, then double the SS amount. That’s still not $300.00. Are your figures right?
As far as MR, I have no use for him, but I support his (or anyone’s) absolute right to pay only taxes actually owed. If he paid more, that would be cause for a mental exam. :-)
Now, if he proposes raising your taxes while keeping his low, then F him.
“If you work, save, and invest, the fruits of that investment is taxed less.”
Not really. As no one seems to remember in this mad age of the Buffet Argument, we have a national VAT tax, which eats away at potential return. Because said tax is paid by the fictional personage of the corporation, people forget it affects actual people’s income. Of course, corporations are not the only means of investing, but you know what I mean.
“Buffet proves the point that lower taxes on The Wealthy results in higher federal revenue”
Can I stop you right there and ask whether you really think the wealthy are taxed less? I agree with the general drift of your argument, but that’s not the world we live in. I can’t believe Buffet has managed, against the plain truth, to con people into thinking the rich pay less. Except that I know, per some writer whose name eludes me, “the Credulous Man finds most delight in believing strange things, and the stranger they are, the easier they pass with him.”
All because some silly semantic trick with the word “income.”
“And why are we comparing income tax to gains tax anyway?”
Because without doing so Buffet couldn’t proffer his false argument.
“rather than match revenue to the size of Government while we’re at it.”
We don’t do that, either. Whenever the feds raise more revenue, they feel free to spend that much more.
I’m a private contractor for tax purposes. So yes I’m ‘self-employed’.
Seeing as my refund hasn’t shown up, then yes, I’m paying effectively 15 percent, which is the same as Romney.
“Why do ‘the rich’ owe any more in pure dollars to support the government?”
They are squeezed more because they can be. More people vote who aren’t rich than are. Every argument about their fair share, no matter how gilded with big moral words, is pure rationalization.
There’s more money in the middle class, but at some point they’ll snap back at the polls. Which is why Obama, et. al. are always talking about “tax cuts for the middle class,” etc.
What you can’t handle the facts that your flip flopping, gun grabbing, Socialized Health Care pusher Mitt Romney is complete hypocrite???
Here this guy wants tax payers to pay higher taxes for Socialized Health Care. At the very same time Mitt loots a company and then dodges taxes (that he THINKS we should pay) and pays a lower tax than the middle class?
Oh but you think that’s okay right????
Texas does just fine without an income tax. I don’t see why the feds require one.
Tax consumption. Say they put a 5 percent tax on every purchase, rather than 300/month that I’m effectively paying, I’d see 300+ net on my check at the end of the month. As my expenses are not 6k a month spending, my expenses come out around 200 a month.
I’d net 280 every single month, and around 3k a year. That’s big, big money for someone like me.
Please disregard my earlier post to you. I see by your subsequent post you were referring to short term capital gains rather than long term. You are correct.
“I do think its unfair and absurd”
No, it’s not. Why, oh why, does everyone forget capital gains are double taxed? Why is the Vat such a deep, dark secret? To aski, I guess, is to answer my own question. It benefits the government to keep it secret, and so it shall be.
“So Mitt the ‘Socialist’ fired employees at Bain in order to put more money in his back pocket under the Trojan Horse of trying to save money for the company.”
Is this truly how people think equity capitalists, or whatever they’re called (corporate raiders, used to be, so as better to picture them as pirates), make money? It’s a lot harder to make a profit firing people and skipping town than you might think. But nevermind that, let me ask whether you think in a perfect world Mitt would prefer downsizing a company or making a company grow? Wouldn’t the latter net him more filthy lucre?
No, the wealthy are not taxed less, they pay the bulk of all taxes. Better precision would have been to say lower tax rates.
Buffet’s memo shows that federal revenue goes up as you lower tax rates, which still says the wealthy pay more tax than us little people do.
“At the very same time Mitt loots a company and then dodges taxes (that he THINKS we should pay) and pays a lower tax than the middle class?”
I do not support Romney because of Romneycare and his flipflopping and the fact that he is not a conservative.
But a) I disagree that he “looted” Bain and all the cartoon populist imagery you used that Bain was in the sinister business of “looting” companies wholesale and firing people and b) the class action warfare stuff that a rich guy is in a lower tax bracket than the middle class.They are in a higher income tax bracket than the middle class bracket. But most wealthy folks like Romney generate their wealth from capital gains not income which is set at 15%.Specifically, what taxes did he “dodge? Have you reviewed his return?
What you are implying is that these “fat cats” should have their taxes raised because you think they pay a lower tax bracket than the middle class.The DNC and Obama think so, too.
“Buffet’s memo shows that federal revenue goes up as you lower tax rates, which still says the wealthy pay more tax than us little people do.”
Funny, I seem to recall Buffet saying more money in the hands of private investers won’t grow the economy. And it wasn’t just that they’d have little effect or a negligible effect. He literally said they’d have no effect. Which goes to show you how stupid Buffet thinks we are.
I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to save all your receipts. There are lots of perfectly legitimate business expenses including mileage, business cards and even some meals that can reduce your taxable income.
First over paid people, like Mitt, they did not work their way up the company. So they do not understand staffing levels and the technology of the jobs. All they know are numbers. They do not understand with every action there is a reaction.
They usually start off by slowly bleeding the company through lay offs. Over time this leads to skeleton staffs on eventually on every level and work loads, that would not have been an issue in the past, to heavy to get whatever the job is done. Moreover, the slow bleed lets experience walk out the door in order to put another dollar in the back of people like Mitt. Furthermore, then the company starts to lose customers due to lack of resources and service. This is since every employee left is overloaded in work and the company will not hire. Finally, once this happens the company gets into that snowball effect. This is when people like Mitt leave and move to another company to do the same thing all over again. They get in these other companies because all of their friends are on each others board of “Trusties”. This is why you see so many executives on multiple boards. So it's like a fraternity of friends that help out each out. The company then falls to of three things happening. It is either sold off, moves overseas and/or closes it's doors.
See people like Mitt are ONLY looking for short term gain for their personal back pocket instead of long term investment of a company. What they do is have short time financial gain by lays offs, while increasing their own personal salaries, bonus, benefits, etc, and piecing off the company while they rob the company. It's kind of like the Mafia is running the show. They are basically looting they are slowly looting the store from the top. It eventually destroys the company and all the employees in it. Remember since they did not work their way up through the company they have zero loyalty. Perhaps as much loyalty as a Prostitute to a Jon?
Just be glad our Military does not hire MBAs off the street to become Generals. A General must work his way up through the ranks in order to become effective at his job. Companies in the United States for years use to operate like the military and were successful. That was one of the many reasons why the United States was a great job Mecca. Not anymore thanks to people that screw over other people for personal gain. They do not care if they destroy not only the company but the country too.
Not anymore and that is one of the main reasons why our economy is suffering. They had a name for people like Mitt back in the day. They called them Robber Barons. They are basically thugs in Suits with hair cuts and a shave. While they pretend to be for the company all they do is destroy them and destroy people's lives.
Oh, I don’t forget it, but many things are double taxed. Your salary income is taxed at the state, federal and sometimes city level. Then you pay a sales tax on what you have left everytime you purchase something. If you save that money or invest it, you’re taxed on the capital gains, and when you die, your descendants pay a death tax on what remains. The same income is taxed multiple times. I understand the reason for keeping the taxes on investment capital low, but we’ll never be able to keep up with the government’s revenue demands...the only way is to kill the spending beast and reduce the rates for everyone - including salary earners.
You think that people who make less than Mitt should pay more in taxes???
What I’m saying is there is NO REASON IN THE WORLD that a middle class tax payer should have to pay a higher tax than Mitt Romney. What is wrong with that???
He did loot the company from the top. This is why he was hiding his tax return. I can’t believe you have any faith in man who has as much loyalty to a company or an issue as to who pays him the most money.... Just like a Prostitute.
You KNOW that’s the truth!
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