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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTax professionals have doubts about Romney's tax returns
by Christian Dem in NC
This morning's Morning Edition led off with a story that asks some pretty brutal questions about Mitt Romney's tax returns. Romney has been adamant that his 2010 and 2011 returns are all the public will get. But a couple of tax professionals looked at Romney's 2010 return and saw a lot in there that raised their eyebrows.
Lee Sheppard of the journal Tax Notes and Southern Cal law professor Lee Kleinbard were somewhat skeptical about the massive size of Romney's IRA. It's worth at least $21 million, and Sheppard and Kleinbard don't know how Romney could have gotten that much in the account since he could only legally put $30,000 per year in it.
Kleinbard means that Romney might have loaded up his retirement account with assets from his private equity firm, Bain Capital, and assigned artificially low values to those assets in order to get around the federal contribution limits.
If so, Romney would still have to pay taxes on the real value of the assets when they're withdrawn from the account. But in the meantime, the money can grow tax-free. Tax Notes' Sheppard says that's an advantage most taxpayers don't have.
"If you happen to work for a partnership and your compensation is arranged this way, you get this very beneficial treatment," Sheppard says.
That's a question we really can't answer with just two years of returns.
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The Bloomberg story highlights another Romney-approved tax strategy that drew the IRS' ire. From 2000 to 2002, it took $1 billion in deductions from an employee stock-purchase plan. The IRS objected, and in 2007 Marriott had to pay $220 million in back taxes.
Romney has staked his campaign on his business record. But with this much evidence of his questionable handling of taxes, can we really trust him with our money?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/19/1111836/-Tax-professionals-have-doubts-about-Romney-s-tax-returns
TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)If he can take 30 grand a year and turn it into 21 million, just think what he can do for the rest of us!
The national debt will be wiped out in no time, all our savings will have enormous returns and and the looming national surplus can be divided amongst the citizenry allowing for one hell of a party.
It will be like magic, it will!
Smilo
(1,944 posts)So that is what the magic in the underwear does for you.
JBoy
(8,021 posts)siligut
(12,272 posts)That bit of community service was mentioned as if it were in his favor.
Zanzoobar
(894 posts)It's a crapshoot. A total crapshoot.
God almighty.
DallasNE
(7,403 posts)Because he has not included all of the attachments required by the IRS. And it involves his Swiss Bank Account where a supporting attachment is missing, according to a tax expert on MSNBC/NBCNEWS.
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)Just ask Lindsey Graham.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"Real Americans screw the government."
...tax cheat = patriot.
Republicans are a few cards short of a full deck.