Romney’s returns show riches

Candidate’s mountain of wealth could cause a loud echo

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Mitt Romney’s tax returns tell the tale: Yes, he’s rich — really rich.

His returns, spanning more than 500 pages and released under political pressure Tuesday, represent an extraordinary financial accounting of one of the wealthiest U.S. presidential candidates in generations, with his annual income topping $20 million.

It remains unclear how the details of Romney’s fortune will play among American workers, who on average earn less in a lifetime than Romney paid in taxes in 2010 alone. Meanwhile, the typical taxpayer pays a similar share of his income to Uncle Sam as he does, roughly 15 percent.

Romney’s returns — which include a 2011 tax estimate — spilled out new details of his scattered holdings, tax strategies and charitable donations. Romney paid about $3 million in federal income taxes in 2010, having earned more than seven times that from his investments.

The documents quickly became fodder for his opponents, with Democrats chiding the former Massachusetts governor for not disclosing more about his financial history. The White House also weighed in about tax fairness as President Barack Obama prepared for his State of the Union Address.

Romney is hardly the only wealthy American seeking the presidency, though he’s on a level all his own.

Republican rival Newt Gingrich, who had publicly pressed him to release his tax information, released his own return for 2010 last week. It revealed that Gingrich earned more than $3.1 million, mostly from $2.5 million paid by his companies, partnerships and investments, and paid just under $1 million in federal tax, a rate of about 31 percent.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported income of $1.73 million last year, mostly from the books he’s written, and paid $453,770 in federal taxes.

Romney’s tax returns showed he continues to profit from Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded but no longer runs; from a Swiss bank account closed just as he launched his campaign and from new listings of investment funds set up overseas.

Romney long had refused to disclose any federal tax returns, then hinted he would offer a single year’s return in April. Yet mounting criticism from his rivals and a hard loss in last week’s South Carolina primary forced his hand.

“Governor Romney has paid 100 percent of what he owes,” said Benjamin Ginsberg, the campaign’s legal counsel. Ginsberg and other advisers said Romney did not use any aggressive tax strategies to help reduce or defer his tax income.

For 2011, Romney will pay about $3.2 million with an effective tax rate of about 15.4 percent, the campaign said. Those returns haven’t yet been filed yet with the Internal Revenue Service. In total, he would pay more than $6.2 million in taxes on $45 million in income over the past two years, his campaign said.

Romney had been cast by his GOP opponents as a wealthy businessman who earned lucrative payouts from his investments while Bain slashed jobs in the private sector. Romney concedes that some companies Bain invested in were unsuccessful but says others created large numbers of jobs.