Romney Releases 2011 Taxes – Is He Unqualified To Be President?

Ken O’Brien

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney today released his 2011 tax returns.

From Mitt Romney’s official website.

This morning, Gov. and Mrs. Romney filed their 2011 tax return with the IRS. At 3:00pm today, the Romney for President campaign will be posting the 2011 return online. 

The complete 2011 tax return, with full schedules, statements, and attachments, will be made available with all other previously-disclosed information at www.mittromney.com/disclosure.

Also posted will be a notarized letter from the Romneys’ tax preparer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (PWC), giving a summary of tax rates from the Romneys’ tax returns for the 20-year period of 1990-2009.

Regarding the newly-filed 2011 Tax Return:

In 2011, the Romneys paid $1,935,708 in taxes on $13,696,951 in mostly investment income.

The Romneys’ effective tax rate for 2011 was 14.1%.

The Romneys donated $4,020,772 to charity in 2011, amounting to nearly 30% of their income.

The Romneys claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of those charitable contributions.

The Romneys’ generous charitable donations in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year. The Romneys thus limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the Governor's statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13% in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.

In 2011, Mitt and Ann Romney paid $1,935,708 in taxes on $13,696,951 in mostly investment income, an effective tax rate of 14.1%.

Romney could have paid a lower tax rate in 2011 due to large charitable contributions, but voluntarily limited them -- and paid more taxes as a result -- to conform to his previous statements that he has paid at least 13% in taxes each year.

However, he said in an interview with ABC News in July:

“I don't pay more [taxes] than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don't think I'd be qualified to become president. I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.”

It is being reported that, without limiting these deductions, his tax rate would have been between 9% and 10.5%. 

 Is he, as he said himself, unqualified to be President?

Or is this just another flip-flop that his supporters will shrug off?

Well according to CNN, the Romney campaign said,

Romney's campaign responded to the discrepancy, saying the candidate wanted to be "consistent" with his August comment.

"Gov. Romney has been clear that no American need pay more than he or she owes under the law. At the same time, he was in the unique position of having made a commitment to the public that his tax rate would be above 13%. He directed his preparers to ensure that he is consistent with that statement," a campaign official said in a statement.

So Mitt’s accountants engineered the results to make sure that he paid above 13%, but in the process he paid more than he owed under the tax laws

In addition, Romney has said he will release “summaries” of his past 20 years of tax returns. This after swearing up and down that the American public would get two years and that would be IT.

 (P.S. He required his vice-presidential prospects to provide ten years of tax returns).