What do you think is in Romney's taxes?

[gollygee]

I know this has been asked before, but I enjoy speculation, and he's inviting it.

I think maybe he made money from a company that profits off abortion or something like that, and he's afraid the right wing will run away from him if they find out.

But there are so many possibilities! I wonder how many we can think of?

[pnwmom]

1. I wouldn't put it past him to have taken advantage of the criminal amnesty program

for unreported Swiss accounts.

But it's also possible that the returns would reveal that he did something illegal to end up with such a large IRA, and/or that he didn't pay gift taxes on gifts to his children, and/or that he had a number of years with virtually no taxes.

[RKP5637]

2. I think he wants to hide the reality of how extremely wealthy he is and how distant he is from

most Americans. It won't serve well the "I'm just like you" rhetoric so many politicians try to spin.

[Ilsa]

3. Some decent speculation here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021084802

Tax deductible gifts to Planned Parenthood, or investment in stem cell companies, for starters.

[Betsy Ross]

4. Amended returns after audit

i.e., there were years he paid no taxes but got caught. Now he can say he did pay, but only after getting busted.
I really don't know how rich people get away with it.

[JaneyVee]

5. Super low tax rates that will vindicate everything Obama has said about wealthy paying fair share

Plus, people will see his low tax rates and wonder why 1-He wants a tax break for himself 2-Why he isn't creating jobs being he's considered a "job creator".

[patrice]

19. Yep. He's a perfect case for just how RIGGED the game is.

[JaneyVee]

27. His tax returns will read like a blueprint for how the wealthy are defrauding America.

[patrice]

31. That's also why they can't cut their losses and run, i.e. swap him out for someone else.

It'd be exactly like admitting that we are right about what they are doing to us.

[JaneyVee]

34. Yeah, there's no turning back now. He's the nominee, and will release only ONE more tax return.

They will just deflect & divert until Election Day while pushing multi-million dollar attack ads with zero facts. Business as usual for the GOP. Fear-mongering=Votes.

[Angry Dragon]

6. I really do not care

He has an obligation to release his returns so the American people can see where his priorities lay

[mercymechap]

16. Must be another one of those

that think the rich are already paying too much?

[Angry Dragon]

35. Perhaps you should stop and think before you

assume what others believe ..............

[Siwsan]

7. Probably multiple things but I suspect his tithing doesn't meet the 10% rule

I've also heard about him supposedly investing in a company that disposes of aborted fetuses.

However, the big issue might be the extremely low tax rate he has paid. Legal or not, it could potentially turn one hell of a lot of people against him.

[pwb]

8. Maybe he did not give the required ten percent to the Mormons.

[RKP5637]

11. OMG! Maybe he gave it to another religion instead! lol n/t

[kestrel91316]

9. My theory: He's a BILLIONAIRE, plus he hasn't paid a dime in income taxes for at least 5 of the past

10 years, plus he has cheated to accomplish this and took advantage of amnesty, plus his residency in MA wasn't legal for him to be governor, plus probably some other stuff like not paying enough tithe.

[patrice]

14. And. it's. ALL. legal. - which is what they don't want us to know. nt

[DevonRex]

10. What Reid said is true. He knows it.

That's why he said it on the senate floor and in writing.

[RKP5637]

12. Yep, Reid is no fool. He has to have something concrete, it's just too easy for

Romney to just produce his returns.

[gollygee]

15. How bad would it be for Reid if he produced them and Reid was wrong?

If it would reflect very badly upon Reid, then that would suggest even more strongly that Reid is right. Romney would love to show that Reid was wrong if he were able to.

[RKP5637]

20. Yep!!! Romney is spinning wheels on what to say next! n/t

[DevonRex]

29. Not only that, Romney could file a suit

For slander and libel both. The harm could not be more egregious than losing the presidency and his reputation as a Mormon and a businessman.

Problem is he's the one in control of the evidence that would supposedly exonerate him. And he refuses to release it.

If he does release it, it proves Reid was right. Catch 22.

[patrice]

13. After listening to Lawrence ODonnell talk to tax crime defense super-attorney, Jeremy Temkin, I have

decided the worst we're going to find is that Romney took advantage of a federal amnesty program for people who needed to file for foreign holdings, but "forgot", but fixed their problems with the amnesty program.

Other than that I'm hoping for VOTING fraud in Massachusetts.

But the tax stuff is about the fact that he DIDN'T do anything illegal. It was/is ALL LEGAL and THAT'S what they don't want America to see, i.e. they hire the politicians, and custom design these weird tax codes specifically to make themselves rich to the exclusion of practically anyone who isn't in those income brackets. Romney is a highly detailed fully complete and comprehensive portrait in every minute aspect of these facts. And it's LEGAL, so that's what they don't want us to know.

[mercymechap]

22. But if that is the case

it shows the poor character of Romney, because although the Bush's, Kerry's, Clinton's and Obamas are all wealthy, they were all willing to show their tax returns and none of those weird tax codes specifically to make themselves richer showed up. So, even if it was legal, having availed himself of all these tactics shows that Romney is someone that is greedy and wants to make more and more money at any cost.

[patrice]

30. Absolutely correct. People are going to see how corrupt "legal" can be & know how vulnerable they

are to anyone and everyone who can do that sort of thing.

The truth about law is that it cannot be perfect. We're supposed to do the best we can to create good effective laws, but it's impossible not to have to rely on personal characteristics and the people are very indirectly involved or mostly NOT involved at all and our "representation" is very indirect or non-existent. It takes a whole lot more than the right church, the right look, the right background, the right friends, the right whatever . . . to get the kinds of people we NEED in positions that affect ALL of us, so we're always going to be vulnerable to the imperfections of our systems and of our understandings and we'll always need to trust, but fundamentally can't trust at the same time. It's the human condition.

[CatWoman]

17. Jimmy Hoffa's remains?

[RKP5637]

23. Ohhhhhhhh !!! LOL

[CatWoman]

26. ...

[PDJane]

18. My guess is that he hasn't exposed the entire extent of his wealth,

and that his low, low, low taxes and lack of job creation is going to be obvious. The other thing is that although Romney is secretive and cunning, I don't think he has the intelligence that his background would indicate.

[hughee99]

21. Very little, I suspect.

I think the problem for Romney will be all the things NOT in his tax returns.

I'll bet Romney has some dealings that aren't reflected there, that with a little bit of research, people could find, but they'd need a starting point. As soon as he releases the records, the clock starts on discovering what's NOT in there because people will start going through it. I think Romney has known he's going to run for president for a while, and made sure his returns LOOKED squeaky clean.

I'm not sure the reasoning that says Romney is so dishonest he's been doing all sorts of illegal things on his taxes for years, but not dishonest enough to lie about them to the IRS. People like Romney never go to jail for stuff like this, they blame the accounting and pay a fine on whatever the government was able to prove.

[mercymechap]

24. I think Romney didn't pay any taxes

or payed at a rate of 5% and is too embarrassed because his plan is to give himself and his cronies even more tax cuts.

[cbrer]

25. Lots of Zeros

The fact that he isn't forthcoming tells much.

It slays me how teabaggers can support this empty suit.

[Voice for Peace]

28. Everything people are speculating, and maybe more.

Very low or no taxes paid
Amnesty deal for Swiss account
Shady investors & associates
All loopholes fully exploited
Shortchanged the Mormons
Voted illegally in MA/other residency issues
Made decisions and big profits from Bain in years he wasn't there,
responsible for outsourcing jobs & so forth
Capitalized on Olympics to give deals to cronies and make a bundle himself
etc

[customerserviceguy]

32. My best guess

is that it's investments that he had before he cleaned things up before his run for the presidency. Especially well before 2008. I can picture some things that are pretty embarrassing, especially regarding overseas investments.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

33. A stack of W2's from Bain held companies

I have seen private equity guys holding down half a dozen or more "jobs" at once.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

36. here's my guess

That there are multiple years where anybody in the country who paid any income taxes at all, paid more taxes than Mittster.

[Motown_Johnny]

37. Tons of stuff. Swiss bank accounts, donations to liberal causes, deductions that are sketchy at best

extremely low tax rates, huge donations to his church which would bring that into the debate, other stuff that I am to poor to know exists.


I love that his dressage horse is a business that loses money so he gets a tax deduction. This is one he was willing to tell us about. Why don't we talk about that business experience? OK businessman, if you are so damn good why is your horse business on corporate welfare?

[TransitJohn]

38. He paid no taxes some years, and stiffed his church on his tithings. eom

n/t