ROMNEY DOESN’T KNOW IF HE PAID A TAX RATE LOWER THAN 13.9%

[kpete]

Source: Think Progress

ROMNEY DOESN’T KNOW IF HE PAID A TAX RATE LOWER THAN 13.9% | Mitt Romney has thus far refused to heed the call from a growing number of people within the Republican party to release more tax returns. And during an interview with ABC’s David Muir from Israel, the former Massachusetts governor revealed that the documents may show that he paid very little in taxes:


Emily Friedman@EmilyABC
Romney tells @DavidMuir he doesn't know if there was a year when he paid a tax rate lower than 13.9%. Says he'll have to go back and look.
29 Jul 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite



Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/07/29/602501/romney-doesnt-know-if-he-paid-a-tax-rate-lower-than-139/ source

[bemildred]

1. Well, he has servants for that. Servants for everything really. nt

[YewNork]

4. Nothing wrong with having servants, everything wrong with not paying your fair share

There's nothing wrong with having servants, if you can afford them.

BUT, there's a lot wrong if you're a multi-millionaire who pays a significantly lower percentage of his income in taxes than the majority of taxpaying Americans do.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. lol

[swayne]

2. Why won't more of the American Press ask simple questions like this.

[russspeakeasy]

5. Because they want to keep their job.

[spindetective]

9. I'm with you on that matter...

I guess it's up to us to 'press the press' to dig deeper through social networking.

[LibDemAlways]

3. Romney must think the entire population is stupid. He knows

exactly how much he didn't pay in taxes. He used every tax dodge in the book to shelter his obscene wealth while ordinary folks (me for instance) paid 25% or more on incomes that he'd consider pocket change. Government by the wealthy for the wealthy.

[Stuart G]

18. He knows, yes he knows to the penny..

Another Bold Face Lie..
..Yea, he knows...he doesn't have to "look"

If he is telling the truth on this,
And he can prove it...
Then I'll buy him another horse..thank you..

[wordpix]

6. well, WE know his dancing horse got him a $77,000 tax deduction

Rmoney knows perfectly well how much he's paid in taxes. He has to sign the document, even if it's prepared by others.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/18/1100947/-Romney-Took-77-000-Tax-Deduction-For-His-Dancing-Horse

[lastlib]

15. under penalty of perjury.

If he's not looking at them and verifying the information he submits, he is committing a crime.

[Berlum]

7. Willard demos once again that he is totally into Republican Occultism

Hiding the truth. Adoring Mammon. Ptooooooey on all that,..

[DCKit]

20. And all this time I thought he was a Mormonite.

Spell check doesn't like the work "mammonite", I guess.

[SheilaT]

10. Well, I have no idea what tax rate I pay at.

I have my taxes done by a professional, I make sure I give him all the little papers that arrive connected to my taxes, sign the thing, and usually write a check. and that's it.

I bet most people, even those who use the short form, really don't know what their overall tax rate is.

[lastlib]

14. "most pepole" aren't running for president on a platform of alleged financial skills.

(I know mine is pretty close to 22% with all my deductions/exemptions. According to my tax preparer, I don't really make enough money to use a loophole--lol.)

[Igel]

21. For years back?

Once I calculated my effective tax rate. and it was really low. For last year it was something like 4.6% for federal income tax. But the numbers are fresh enough in my mind and I know nobody's going to pitch a fit if the real number is 4.5 or 4.7%.

Start with gross income. Minus any deductions for yourself and dependents. Then take the standard deduction or itemize. (We don't itemize.) Don't forget to deduct for any IRA contributions or even just the child tax credit. Of course, those are "loopholes"; it's just that most people think of loopholes as what the other guy uses.

[lastlib]

23. I could go back to 1994 in a heartbeat....

anything older, I would have to go out to the shed and get a box....but I think that would get me back to 1982.

(actually, you're making it a little harder than you need to. Just take the total tax you paid for a given year, and divide it by your taxable income--both are shown on your 1040.)

[kestrel91316]

11. Translation: He has paid ZERO taxes most years and is fervently hoping

no one finds out.

[lastlib]

12. He's lying (again)....

(big news, right?)

What kind of "financial genius" doesn't know the tax rate he's paying on his income?? That's a basic calculation in any kind of financial planning.

[Posteritatis]

13. I've never paid a rate lower than that, and I'm including sales taxes. (nt)

[Maineman]

16. Romney the so-called clever business man doesn't know anything about his own money. He must have

hired people to increase his wealth. What a sponge bob!

[Stuart G]

17. K and R nt.

[Johnny2X2X]

19. 15% Capital Gains Tax

So how come he's paying 13.9% then? He doesn't even pay his full share of the ridiculously low Capital Gains Tax.

[Igel]

22. Deductions.

Personal exemptions, charitable contributions, mortgage and interest paid (if that's still deductible). Things like losses carried over from previous years can ding current year's income. IRA contributions. Add them all up, and you can lose 1.1% even of a pretty hefty dividend-based income.

Gross income minus all the legal deductions is what Congress has defined as "fair." Sad, but true.

[primavera]

24. Is there anything Mitwit does know?

All he ever seems to say is "I don't know." If he's so clueless, why would he think he should be president? Right: "I don't know."