Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released Friday a letter from his accountants saying he paid an effective federal tax rate of at least 13.6 percent annually over 20 years, a move many have characterized as “fighting back” against Democrats’ claims that he paid no taxes in some years.
Romney had resisted pressure to make his returns public, but followed through on an earlier promise to release his 2011 return. This return revealed that he paid $1.9 million in taxes on more than $13 million in income – an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent.
President Obama paid a rate of 20.5 percent in 2011, and Romney’s vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan paid an effective rate of 20 percent last year.
The Romneys gave 29.4 percent of their income to charity in 2011, donating $4,020,772 out of the $13,696,951 in gains, while the Obamas gave 21.8 percent of their income to charity, donating $172,130 out of the $789,674 they earned.
Mitt Romney released his 2010 tax returns in January, but refused demands from Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and other Democrats to release multiple years of his returns. In an indication that the summaries will not satisfy Mr. Romney’s critics, Brad Woodhouse, the communications director for the Democratic National Committee, posted the following message on Twitter: “Summaries? What is Romney hiding? This isn’t just abt rates — how about Swiss Bank Accts, Bermuda Shell Cos and Caymans Investments?”
Indeed, questions abound: How much money, if any, did Mr. Romney pay in foreign taxes in 2011? How much money, if any, remains sheltered in overseas accounts? What are his remaining ties to Bain Capital, the firm he founded?
Romney’s returns appear to lay to rest questions raised by Reid when he stated that someone told him Romney paid no federal income taxes at all for ten years. In a statement on Friday, Reid did not repeat his claim, but continued to attack Romney for a lack of transparency by releasing only summary of most of his tax returns. “When will the American people see the returns he filed before he was running for president?,” Mr. Reid said. “Governor Romney is showing us what he does when the public is looking. The true test of his character would be to show what he did when everyone was not looking at his taxes.”