Romney Releases New Tax Documents

Mitt Romney released new tax documents Friday that showed that he and his wife Ann got $13.7 million in investment income and paid more than $1.9 million in federal income taxes in 2011. He paid 14.1 percent of his income. The documents also showed that the Romneys’ personal federal income tax rate for the past 20 years has not been lower than 13.66 percent.

The new tax documents showed that Romney reduced the amount of charitable deduction he claimed in 2012 to keep his federal tax rate over 13 percent. Their 2011 tax returns were part of the document released. It also included Ann’s trust, the family’s charitable trust, Representative Paul Ryan’s tax returns and disclosure reports for both Ryan and his wife.

So far, Romney released two years of tax returns. He released his 2010 returns last January after he was criticized by his Republican opponents before the primary contests in Florida and South Carolina. Romney used to run the private equity firm Bain Capital and most of the couple’s income came from investments.

Capital gains and dividends are taxed at 15 percent, which is lower than the 35 percent on ordinary income such as salaries and wages. Romney’s 2011 tax return also showed that he earned $260,390 as director of other companies and $190,350 in speaking fees.

On the other side of the political fence, President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden have released 12 years of tax returns. Obama campaign spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said that Romney’s 2011 tax return only confirmed what people already knew, which is people like Romney pay a lower tax rate than most middle-class families. This was due to several complex loopholes and tax shelters available to those at the top.

Last January, Romney said that he only paid taxes that were legally required and not a dollar more. The in July he said that if he had paid more than are legally due then he wasn’t qualified to become president.