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Romney Says He Pays About 15 Percent in Income Tax
ABC News ^ | January 17, 2012 | KASIE HUNT

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 ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: buyoutbaron; capitalism; gopprimary; iag4romney; ineligibleromney; notransparency; offshoredeals4romney; romney2012; sharia4romney; specialdeal4romney; taxreturns; vultureromney
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Mitt Romney claims $370,000 earned from speaking fees is 'not very much'

Richard A. Viguerie: Romney’s Real Bain Capital Problem is His Hypocrisy ....."Among the insiders who received the no-strings-attached cash were Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, Merrill Lynch, Societe Generale, Calyon, Barclays Plc, Rabobank, Danske, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Banco Santander, Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, Bank of America, and Lloyds Banking Group.

Not surprisingly, just a cursory examination of Federal Election Commission campaign finance reports shows Romney banked over $798,000 from employees of TARP recipients.

___________________________________________________

*********Romney's Disclosure Form**********

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1 posted on 01/17/2012 12:37:38 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

How can that be? We’re paying 35%?


2 posted on 01/17/2012 12:40:03 PM PST by Reagan69 (I supported Sarah Palin and all I got was a lousy DVD !)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Not surprisingly, just a cursory examination of Federal Election Commission campaign finance reports shows Romney banked over $798,000 from employees of TARP recipients.

So? I work for a bank, therefore I am an "employee of a TARP recipient." Does that mean I, as a rather lowly employee of a financial institution who is simply working whatever job he can get to feed his family, have no right to participate in the political process?

I'm not a Mitt guy, but c'mon.

3 posted on 01/17/2012 12:40:45 PM PST by RockinRight (If you're waiting to drink until you find pure water, you're going to die of dehydration.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

They call me “poor boy, poor boy, poor boy”


4 posted on 01/17/2012 12:40:45 PM PST by Tennessee Nana
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To: All
…..“The New York Times -- "Buyout Profits Keep Flowing to Romney" reports that Romney continues to receive a share of investment profits from Bain, although he retired almost 13 years ago.”…. Source
5 posted on 01/17/2012 12:41:44 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Isn’t this the creep who wants the “wealthy” to pay 35%?

FUMR!!


6 posted on 01/17/2012 12:43:26 PM PST by Jim Robinson (Rebellion is brewing!! Impeach the corrupt Marxist bastard!!)
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To: Reagan69

THAT my friend is one of the problems with the tax code. All us little folks are being taxed at a higer rate because we get paid on income; the rich make their money from dividends and capital gains, so they pay a lower rate. This is why people like Buffett says he pays less taxes than his secretary. Stricly speaking, it’s not true, but he’s taxed at a lower rate than she is because of the way she receives her income.


7 posted on 01/17/2012 12:45:43 PM PST by americanophile ("this absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, is a rotting corpse which poisons our lives" - Ataturk)
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To: Jim Robinson

Newt & The Rick Twins will nail Willard Thursday night on THAT!


8 posted on 01/17/2012 12:48:03 PM PST by CainConservative (Newt/Santorum 2012 with Cain, Huck, Petraeus, Parker, Watts, Duncan, & Bachmann in Newt's Cabinet)
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To: americanophile

I made 12k last year.

I pay 300/month in taxes due to SS and whatnot from just federal taxes.

That’s the same as what Mitt Romney is paying. FUMR!


9 posted on 01/17/2012 12:48:09 PM PST by BenKenobi (Rick Santorum - "The Force is strong with this one")
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To: Jim Robinson
He's part of the K-Street to Wall Street Club.

Rick Perry on Congressional Insider Trading [:24]

******************

Nov. 13, 2011: “Pelosi fires back at ‘60 Minutes’ report on ‘soft corruption’”

“Pelosi and her husband participated in an initial public offering of Visa in 2008, according to CBS. They bought 5,000 shares at the initial price of $44; two days later, shares were trading at $64, CBS said.”.......... Source

10 posted on 01/17/2012 12:52:24 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: BenKenobi
One more argument for a more uniform, flatter and more broadly-based tax scheme. While I don't think it makes sense to tax investment capital at a higher rate, it doesn't make much sense to punish people who are drawing a meager salary either. The only way out is to gut federal spending and lower the rate across the board.
11 posted on 01/17/2012 12:54:08 PM PST by americanophile ("this absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, is a rotting corpse which poisons our lives" - Ataturk)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Mitt will get the nomination and THIS issue will torpedo his campaign. Independents will view Mitt as part of the problem and not the solution. Basically another Obama with an R by his name.

Obama will get another 4 years unless an alternative party comes in now. The Republican race for the White House is done. Tea Party where are you at?

12 posted on 01/17/2012 12:54:32 PM PST by Sprite518
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To: americanophile; Reagan69

How can that be? Why incorporation. The elitists knew exactly what they were doing when they duped people into supporting an income tax. Abolish the income tax altogether, and return us to duties, excises and tariffs. Taxation of productivity stifles productivity. People don’t care if they’re sheared if the shearing comes out of the income before they ever even see it. Have them see a tax on every receipt and they’re more inclined to care. (Even them, some will baaa and turn back to the TV/Sporting event).


13 posted on 01/17/2012 12:55:10 PM PST by JDW11235 (http://www.thirty-thousand.org/)
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To: Reagan69

“How can that be? We’re paying 35%?”

Wage income, like from doing work, is taxed at around 35%, depending on where you are in the tax tables.

Interest income or capital gains from stocks is taxed at 15%.

More than half of Congress and the president and VP are millionaires, and they write the tax laws.

This is one of the major complaints of OWS and was the basis for Warren Buffet’s rant some months ago.

If you work, save, and invest, the fruits of that investment is taxed less. It’s a great incentive to invest your dough so other people can work with it (grow the economy). As Eisenhower found out, raising that rate makes people hide their stash so nobody gets the benefit. Kennedy drastically cut taxes on “the rich” and increased Federal revenue significantly, as well as investment and growth in general as “the rich” could now make a buck by spreading their wealth around in the form of investment via stocks and bonds.

You can see the result in Buffet’s letter, when he complains about how much people make and how much they are taxed, do the math and you’ll see that Buffet proves the point that lower taxes on The Wealthy results in higher federal revenue (to pay for federal stuff).


14 posted on 01/17/2012 12:57:21 PM PST by DBrow
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To: JDW11235

Oh I would love to see a repeal of the republic-killing 16th Amendment.


15 posted on 01/17/2012 12:58:18 PM PST by americanophile ("this absurd theology of an immoral Bedouin, is a rotting corpse which poisons our lives" - Ataturk)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Step One: A flat tax RATE system.

Step Two: A per capita flat tax AMOUNT system.

Why do “the rich” owe any more in pure dollars to support the government?


16 posted on 01/17/2012 12:59:31 PM PST by EyeGuy (2012: When the Levee Breaks)
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To: americanophile

“THAT my friend is one of the problems with the tax code. All us little folks are being taxed at a higer rate because we get paid on income; the rich make their money from dividends and capital gains, so they pay a lower rate. “

Last time I heard this argument I heard it coming from President Obama in a class warfare argument to raise the capital gains tax to 28%. Are you suggesting we raise the capital gains tax and discourage capital investment to achieve growth?


17 posted on 01/17/2012 1:00:07 PM PST by chuckee
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To: Reagan69

35% is for people making $379k and up....taxable income.

Keeping Romney’s name out of this argument, I refuse to fall for this class baiting.

I’m in the 25% bracket, if you look at my raw income...but I don’t pay 25%. Last year, I paid 6.6% - a very common outcome after standard deductions, etc lower the taxable income.

This whole class baiting argument pits the stated and collected cap gain rate (15%) against the stated (but certainly not collected) income tax rates. Its not a valid comparison.

And why are we comparing income tax to gains tax anyway? Presumably, somebody somewhere earned money as income, in the first place, before investing it and realizing gains.

I know spicing up the argument with Romney’s name clouds the issue...but this ‘argument’ is at the heart of the OWS crowd. The sheeple really believe they pay more in taxes than the ultra wealthy...and it really is just not true.


18 posted on 01/17/2012 1:02:07 PM PST by lacrew (Mr. Soetoro, we regret to inform you that your race card is over the credit limit.)
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To: americanophile
And this is why the OWS people want dividend taxes hiked.

Problem is...it would affect millions of middle-class Americans too and bar the way to greater wealth as one climbs the ladder.

Classic class warfare.

19 posted on 01/17/2012 1:02:40 PM PST by Siena Dreaming
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To: DBrow
Interest income or capital gains from stocks is taxed at 15%.

@#^#&!! I wish...........!!! I pay cap gains near 40% to the Feds every year!!

Of course lets be a bit clearer....Long Term Cap Gains are taxed differently than Short Term Cap Gains....of which I an referring to.

20 posted on 01/17/2012 1:03:49 PM PST by Osage Orange (HE HATE ME)
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