Mitt Romney paid $1.9 million in federal taxes on $13.7 million in income. But he could have paid less federal taxes had he claimed a full deduction on $4 million in charitable giving.
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney greets supporters after speaking at a rally Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, in Las Vegas. Romney campaigned in Nevada as aides released a 2011 federal income tax return showing he and his wife, Ann, paid $1.94 million in federal taxes last year on income of $13.7 million.
Julie Jacobson/AP
EnlargeMitt?Romney, one of the wealthiest candidates ever to seek the presidency, paid nearly $2 million in federal?taxes?on $13.7 million in income that he and his wife reported last year, his U.S. returns showed Friday. That came to an effective?tax?rate of 14.1 percent, lower than millions of middle-income Americans but actually more than he had to pay.
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Most of?Romney's?income was from investment returns. That is why his rate was lower than taxpayers whose income was mostly from wages, which can be?taxed?at higher rates.
Romney's?taxes?have emerged as a key issue during the 2012 presidential race with President Barack Obama.Romney?released his 2010 returns in January, but he continues to decline to disclose returns from previous years ? including those while he worked at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he co-founded.
The Obama campaign and other Democrats have pushed for fuller disclosures, reminding the Republican candidate that his father, George?Romney, released a dozen years of returns when he ran for president.
Overall, the?Romneys' main?tax?return and separate forms for blind trusts totaled over 800 pages. The blind-trust income came from hedge funds and other complex investment vehicles. The couple also reported $3.5 million in income "from sources outside the United States," citing "various countries." Their forms included filings on holdings in Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and the Cayman Islands.
The Obama campaign accused?Romney?anew of profiting from millions invested overseas and "loopholes andtax?shelters only available to those at the top."
Apparently hoping to resolve basic questions voters might have, the?Romney?campaign also released a letter from his accountants saying that in the 20 years prior to 2010 the?Romneys?paid an average annual effective rate of 20.2 percent, never lower than 13.66 percent. On average, middle-income families ? those making from $50,000 to $75,000 a year ? pay 12.8 percent of their income in federal?taxes, according to Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation. But many pay a higher rate.
The former Massachusetts governor, whose wealth is estimated at perhaps $250 million, is aggressively competing with Obama for the support of middle class voters.
Obama's own?tax?return for last year showed that he and his wife, Michelle, paid $162,074 in federal?taxes?on $789,674 in adjusted gross income, an effective?tax?rate of 20.5 percent. Their income plunged from $1.7 million in 2010, with declining sales of the president's books. In 2009, the Obamas reported income of $5.5 million, fueled by the best-selling books.
The?Romneys'?tax?bill could have been lower.
For the year, they claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of their $4.021 million in charitable contributions, said Brad Malt, trustee of the candidate's blind trust.
The?Romneys?gave $2.6 million in cash to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the documents show. They gave just over $2 million in non-cash charitable contributions ? including donations of stock holdings in Domino's Pizza, Dunkin Donuts and Warner Chilcott ? to a family trust.
They could have claimed more in deductions, Malt said, but the couple "limited their deductions of charitable contributions to conform to the governor's statement (n August, based on the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13 percent in income?taxes?in each of the last 10 years."
Romney?seemed to be painted into a corner by that statement, which came in reaction to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's claim to have heard that the Republican had paid no?taxes?in some years.
Romney?will surely be reminded by the Democrats that he also said in August, defending his right to pay no more?taxes?than he owed: "I don't pay more 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."
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