What is Romney Hiding?

[Classic]

Originally Posted by mc mark drip drip drip... Mitt Romney Tax Returns May Have Employed Legally Dubious Maneuvers, Tax Experts Say WASHINGTON -- Tax experts who have begun to examine the Bain Capital documents released Thursday by Gawker are raising questions as to whether presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has paid all the taxes he owed. At issue are two tax-avoidance techniques employed by Bain Capital, the firm founded by Romney, which have been commonly used in the private equity world but have come under increasing legal scrutiny.

Yeah...so?

[Dubious]

If Obama was a really a ruthless socialist dictator, he'd have half the IRS working on an October indictment.

Maybe he does.

[mc mark]

Originally Posted by Dubious If Obama was a really a ruthless socialist dictator, he'd have half the IRS working on an October indictment. Maybe he does.

Just remember. It's a felony to lie on SEC filings.

[JeopardE]

Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap
TAX E-VA-DER

[Commodore]

I can't believe Romney would try to pay as little taxes as possible. What kind of sick person does that?

[nef2005]

Originally Posted by Commodore I can't believe Romney would try to pay as little taxes as possible. What kind of sick person does that?

How many people who do that run for President on a platform of paying too much in taxes while paying sub 15%?

[SamFisher]

Originally Posted by Commodore I can't believe Romney would try to pay as little taxes as possible. What kind of sick person does that?

That's not the real issue (though his willingness to engage in elaborate tax avoidance schemes can be interpreted as saying something about him...) - his entire campaign, to the extent it can even be deemed to focus on anything (which is highly arguable by itself), seems to focused on the idea that rich people pay too many taxes, whereas he's paying a far lower share of his income than most of us ever will.

Even more bizarrely, it's secondary focus is a long term budgetary crisis - and his remedy is to reduce revenues. LOLWUTPEAR?

[Carl Herrera]

Originally Posted by Commodore I can't believe Romney would try to pay as little taxes as possible. What kind of sick person does that?

1. I don't think the point being made by the Obama campaign is that Mitt is a tax cheat-- unless, of course, HuffPost is right about their theory that some of Bain's tax saving strategies are actually illegal.

2. Instead, the relevant points are as follows:

A. The variety of tax shelters that allow Mitt's to pay a rather low tax rate (even the 13% he said he paid is significantly lower than the rate paid by many much less wealthy people) shows that America's wealthy, the supposed "job creators" are hardly being overtaxed as the GOP claims that they are-- and hardly need another tax cut as proposed by the Romney-Ryan budget, which would, among other things, cut capital gains tax from 15% to 0% and take Mitt's supposed 13% tax rate down to less than 1%.


B. Mitt's claim that he knows how to fix the economy because he is some sort of private sector captain of industry/job creator is rather dubious. He's not exactly Henry Ford or Bill Gates. Instead, he's a guy who placed bets to maximize return on money. Some of them resulted in a net gain of jobs, other bets/investments resulted in job cuts, outsourcing, etc. Other maneuvers are just tax shelters. It's all fine as far as maximizing your return on money goes, but this isn't exactly what Mitt presents himself to be.

[vlaurelio]

Originally Posted by Commodore I can't believe Romney would try to pay as little taxes as possible. What kind of sick person does that?

you don't believe him?

[Cohete Rojo]

Some speculation over at the Big Picture blog:

1) 0% Tax Rates: The released tax documents show a very low tax rate, and Romney has said he never paid less than a 13% rate over the past 10 years. However, its not inconceivable that through a combination of aggressive tax planning, use of Trusts, earned income carry forwards and use of tax havens like Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, Romney may have paid no taxes whatsoever in 2009 and years prior. His advisors may have correctly surmised this would be fatal to his Presidential aspirations. ... 2) Voter Fraud: The Guardian and others came up with an even simpler theory: That Romney has voted in a state in which he was not technically a resident (i.e. voting in Massachusetts when he was actually a resident of California). ... 3) Broken Tax Laws: Personally, I assign this a very low to moderate probability. However, without releasing his returns, Romney leaves himself open to speculation that he may perhaps have crossed a line and submitted returns that are somehow numerically fraudulent and/or otherwise illegal (separate and apart from the aforementioned address issue). ... 4) Much Wealthier Than Previously Reported: Romney’s wealth has been guesstimated at around $250 million. Returns from which we might infer that his wealth is significantly greater – not that $250 million isn’t a huge number – might be somewhat off-putting to the electorate, particularly in light of Romney’s recent well-publicized 47% gaffe (which actually was not a gaffe at all, but a core belief among some conservatives). ... 5) Did Romney Make a “Bet Against America”? ... But the question needs to be asked: Do Mitt Romney’s unreleased tax returns - in particular for 2008 & 2009 - contain evidence that he “bet against America” via participation in John Paulson’s wildly successful housing market short and/or, more generally, by being short equity markets during the decline? Of course, such behavior is hardly illegal. But I doubt his personal enrichment during that period (particularly via a housing market short) would play well with the tens of millions of Americans who were simultaneously being financially devastated. If this is the case, it could explain a lot. For example, Romney could not release, say, 2000 – 2007, withhold 2008 and 2009, and have 2010 and 2011 already in the public domain. ... The bottom line is that there’s something in Mr. Romney’s tax returns that he doesn’t want made public. Having bet against America would be at the top of my list – far more devastating, in my opinion, than simply having paid an absurdly low rate. h/t You Know Who You Are @TBPInvictus Adding: I’d be remiss not to acknowledge the comments raising the possibility that Romney participated in the 2009 Swiss Bank Account Amnesty program. Yet another possibility – #6 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/09...y-tax-records/

[mc mark]

His advisors may have correctly surmised this would be fatal to his Presidential aspirations.