“Really, think about it....in what universe does a person get away with not paying any taxes for 10 years....and a public figure at that?”
In this universe, and this country, if they have the ability to receive their money in forms other than direct income, and have sufficient deductions against the money they received. The Romneys may have paid no taxes at all, and it would all be perfectly legal. After all, their 2010 return showed that they could take a $77,000 deduction for their dressage horse.
If the Romneys didn’t pay Federal taxes for a decade, it would say more about the Federal tax law (and how it got that way) than it would about the Romneys. It would simply mean that the Romneys could afford good tax preparers and accountants.
Well....I sorta think Romney has been paying some taxes.
His 2010 form:
http://thorndike.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Romney1040-2010.pdf
Says he paid $672k in state/local income tax, presumably in 2009.
And, it says he paid $4,619,207 in 2010 federal taxes.
This was an overpayment of $1,609,441, which he applied to next year’s taxes.
Where did his income come from?
$3,295,727 in interest
$4,923,348 dividends
$593,996 business income
$12,573,249 in capital gains
Here’s 2011:
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2012/president/candidates/romney/romney_tax_return_1040_2011/
$4,099,136 in interest
$3,168,867 dividends
$10,700 capital gains
He paid $3,434,441...which was an overpayment of $207k.
Now again I ask....really, in all seriousness, do you think somebody (who is a public figure) is going to be able to get his tax liability down to zero for ten straight years...only to be in the $3-$4 million range of taxes paid the following two years?
All the fantastic deductions people are talking about (horse for example) are part of business....but it would be a neat trick to have his business run a loss for ten consecutive years (which I don’t even think is allowed), and have that loss large enough to offset his huge gains. May (and its a big maybe) he had capital losses and no dividends in those years....but his interest income should keep trucking along, right?
Mitt Romney paid no federal taxes for 10 year? If that’s true, I’ll eat my hat. Its just not possible.
Just keep in mind (and I heard this from a reliable source), Harry Reid wears pink thong underwear, while on the senate floor. Don’t believe me - just ask Harry to show you his underwear.