Could there be something criminal in Romney's tax returns that the IRS wouldn't have caught?

[NNN0LHI]

Like is there some income not claimed in there that other people he had business with and knew about and just assumed or were told Romney would be responsible for claiming and would be included in Romney's returns but wasn't?

Kind of like working under the table, or as a contractor where Romney is the responsible party for paying the taxes rather than the actual employer being responsible.

Could that be why he can't release them?

Don

[hedgehog]

1. The Republicans in Congress have consistently fought efforts by the IRS to focus

audits where the money is, preferring that the IRS focus on lower income people. Auditing a return like Romney's would take a great deal of time and effort. Even at that, i think Romney has been audited 3 times. If that's correct, I would think the IRS saw a lot of smoke, but didn't find any fires...........yet.

[NNN0LHI]

7. Romney has said he has been audited 3 times but he has shown Ø evidence of such audits

Last edited Sun Aug 5, 2012, 09:23 PM - Edit history (1)

Could have been 300 audits or no audits for all I know because all we have to go by is what a proven liar is saying to us.

See the problem with repeating that unsubstantiated rumor?

Dob

[cthulu2016]

2. The IRS has his returns

and the IRS is free to act on any prior illegality within the statute of limitations.

So we would be saying that public release would lead to public examination and a unch of folks would pick out things in his returns that appear fishy and then the IRS would act in response to that publicity.

Political publicity cannot, properly, lead to a higher or lower level of IRS scrutiny. I assume the IRS would bend over backward to not apply greater scrutiny.

So I doubt that is it.

[unblock]

4. but they ONLY have his returns and related forms, not his bank account statements.

you can't tell just from a return if he gained millions though unreported means.

some buddy of his could have simply wired him millions in exchange for some insider stock tip, e.g.
neither party would be telling the irs about that.

but of course, releasing his tax returns wouldn't change anything there. no one in the public would be able to figure it out either, except for the buddy, who could have easily guessed anyway and ain't talking regardless.

[former9thward]

15. They know what is in his bank accounts.

Interest is reported to the IRS and you just do the back math to find out what is in it.

[unblock]

22. only for u.s. accounts, and his money isn't in accounts that earn bank interest.

he's not putting much money in accounts that pay 0.08% interest. his money earns mostly dividends and capital gains. and most of it is in foreign countries.

[former9thward]

23. You might be right but I have seen absolutely no evidence of what you say.

It is not reflected in his 2010 return which is public.

[unblock]

3. possible, but highly improbable. people like rmoney don't usually do overtly criminal things.

why would they?

they "push the envelope", using possibly questionable techniques that very expensive lawyers ensure them they can get away with. that saves them tons in taxes. why bother doing anything overtly criminal when you can save almost as much money within the (swiss cheese, corrupt) system?

what's far more likely going on is that the techniques he used and/or the results he got are politically devastating. zero taxes in some years is the most obvious example. another is having taken that amnesty deal.

[grasswire]

5. bigamy?

Another family tucked away somewhere?

[LaydeeBug]

6. IIRC, there was some sort of amnesty offered to people who hid assets...

and some legal beagle said that it would be difficult for him to seek the Office of POTUS if he had done that.

At either rate, we MUST continue with this issue.

If he wants to be at the helm, he needs to put up or shut up.

[kentuck]

8. Didn't he amend the only return he has made public?

He forgot to include the Jamaica fund on his return and had to file an amended form, didn't he?

[kestrel91316]

9. There could be something criminal that the IRS overlooked, and that Dems with

time on their hands (I'm talkin' about YOU, DUers) could find if they went to work on it...........

[hedgehog]

10. Agreed!

[onenote]

12. How are DUers going to find something criminal in Romney's returns

Are there DUers out there that have copies? That would be a surprise.

[kestrel91316]

16. IF THEY ARE RELEASED we could take a gander at it.

We're good sleuths when we work together.

[onenote]

19. Sure, but there will be much folks with much more expertise than us

reviewing them. When the 2010 return was released, I don't recall DUers beating the experts in uncovering the various things in that return that made news.

[kestrel91316]

20. Good god. I can't believe you are trying to argue with me about this.

[onenote]

21. Sorry. Didn't know that I was required to agree with you or stay silent

Can't believe you're upset that someone expressed a view that isn't in accord with yours.

[Bluerthanblue]

11. I'm not sure it is criminal, but I just

read the OP entitled "Facts" here in GD-

I couldn't really understand what was being said, and went googling about Mitt having loaned his presidential bid 45million, then asking the FEC to permission to forgive himself the loan and then treat it as a contrubution.

The wierd thing is that when you have a loan forgiven, it is usually then treated as income by the IRS. There is speculation that he may have cashed in some assets to cover the loans, and that they occurred when the market was tanked, so that he could have ...taken a loss ...???.... which may in the end have reduced his tax owed to little or nothing. ???

here is a link I posted in the other OP that describes this much better than I could. If this really happened, it wouldn't be "illegal" , but I really don't think people would be feeling too kindly about his playing the system -

see what you think:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/26/1058775/-Did-Romney-s-45-Million-08-Campaign-Loss-Reduce-His-Taxes-to-Zero

[charlyvi]

13. I think he didn't pay his full tithe to the LDS.

That's a very VERY big no no. I think he tithed some, but not the full 10 per cent. That and the fact that he's taking advantage of every tax shelter and loophole in the tax code will not go over well with the mainstream of Americans. Of course, the base would think evading taxes is what a patriotic American should do.

[Enrique]

14. IRS resources are limited

if Romney released his taxes, he would get a crowdsourced audit that would be a million times more thorough than anything the IRS could do.

[Johonny]

17. I think so

the bug rumor is that he took the IRS amnesty in 2009 because he was part of the group caught illegally hiding earning overseas.

[Courtesy Flush]

18. I'll bet they're squeaky clean

I'm not expecting anything illegal in his taxes. I think he's hiding them because he doesn't want the Tea Party to see they've been lied to about the rich being over-taxed.

He's probably paid next to nothing -- totally legally -- and that's their biggest secret!

[uponit7771]

24. Yes, the SEC and the IRS don't talk. The IRS is going to assume you're being honest with a LOT of

...your tax returns but if audited they have to prove you were dishonest and lied on purpose on returns vs making a mistake.