Romney Tax Returns Show Strategy for Moving Money to Kids

[ProSense]

Romney Tax Returns Show Strategy for Moving Money to Kids

By Margaret Collins and Richard Rubin

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, have used sophisticated estate- planning techniques for more than a decade to minimize taxes and amass at least $100 million for their family outside of their estate.

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Wealthy couples use strategies allowed under the federal tax system such as moving assets to trusts so that the money may be subject to little or no gift and estate taxes, Sloan said. The Romney family trust is worth $100 million, according to the campaign. That money isn’t included in the couple’s personal fortune, which the campaign estimates at as much as $250 million.

Estate Tax

The Romneys would pay higher taxes under the estate-tax proposals of President Barack Obama and would pay less under Romney’s plan. Obama has proposed increasing the estate tax from current levels and curtailing wealth-transfer strategies. The Republican presidential candidate wants to eliminate the estate tax, which currently applies a top rate of 35 percent and a $10.24 million exemption on a married couple’s combined assets.

A repeal of the levy may save the Romneys about $70 million in federal estate taxes after they both die, assuming the couple’s combined taxable estate was $200 million after deductions for items such as administrative expenses and charitable contributions. Compared with today’s rates, Obama’s proposal may cost the Romneys an additional $20 million.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-26/romney-tax-returns-show-strategy-for-moving-money-to-kids

Romney wants to be President to protect his wealth (and no one appears to know how much he's actually worth).

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. How do the 99% feel about Romney hoarding his wealth?

the Romney's need occupying

[ProSense]

4. Maybe it's too shocking! n/t

[Angry Dragon]

2. Who is this man running for president??

No one knows ........... he refuses to tell us

[ProSense]

3. The hype

around Romney, the persona created by the media, is all about greed. It's why the wealthy are flocking to him. They're convincing the masses that this man knows about the economy, when all he know about is greed.

Krugman:

Business Is Not Economics

President Obama gets this exactly right:

When some people question why I would challenge his Bain record, the point I’ve made there in the past is, if you’re a head of a large private equity firm or hedge fund, your job is to make money. It’s not to create jobs. It’s not even to create a successful business – it’s to make sure that you’re maximizing returns for your investor. Now that’s appropriate. That’s part of the American way. That’s part of the system. But that doesn’t necessarily make you qualified to think about the economy as a whole, because as president, my job is to think about the workers. My job is to think about communities, where jobs have been outsourced.

A country is not a company — and it’s definitely not a private equity firm.

And here’s the thing: Romney is running for president entirely on the basis of his business success...Once the Bain record becomes a liability instead of a strength, there’s nothing there.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/business-is-not-economics/

[ProSense]

5. Kick so

that someone can explain what this has to do with creating jobs.

[kentuck]

6. (and no one appears to know how much he's actually worth). ??

I would guess somewhere between $1 and $2 billion...

[Initech]

7. And people expect this wealthy moocher is going to handle the economy better than Obama.

[ProSense]

8. The rich have to protect their own n/t

[Initech]

9. The wealthy moochers have to protect what they stole.