Following up on my prior posts (links below):
- New York Times, We Still Need To See Those Return, by Paul Krugman (Princeton University):
Aha. Romney concedes that the estimates people have been making about his taxes are basically right:
At an event in Florence, SC, Mitt Romney told reporters that his effective tax rate is probably close to 15% because most of his income comes from investments, reports Bloomberg’s Julie Davis.
And an immediate question is, do you agree that unearned income should be taxed at a rate so much lower than earned income?
Besides, he’s still fudging: how much of that is true investment income, and how much is carried interest, which is actually earned income that for reasons unclear manages to get taxed like investment income (making nonsense of the claim that investment income should face low taxes because it has already been taxed once)?
- New York Times editorial, Taxes and Transparency:
Mr. Romney’s insistence on secrecy is impossible to defend now that he appears to be closing in on the nomination and questions have intensified about his personal finances and record as a venture capitalist. The financial disclosure required of presidential candidates is more limited than the detailed information contained in tax returns. It is not too much to ask someone seeking the nation’s highest office to sacrifice some personal privacy to reassure voters that they have no hidden entanglements.
- William A. Jacobson (Cornell), Tax Return Slippery Slope:
Mitt Romney’s original position that he would not release his income tax returns, a position he held to for several weeks, now is slipping.
At the debate last night Romney gave a convoluted answer that he “probably” would release the tax returns in April — after he likely will have wrapped up the nomination if he stays on the current trajectory. The answer was cringe-worthy:
(Hat Tip: Bob Kamman.) Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Romney Refuses to Release His Tax Returns, Even If He Wins the Nomination (Dec. 23, 2011)
- More on Romney's Refusal to Release His Tax Returns (Dec. 27, 2011)
- Obama Attacks Romney's Refusal to Release His Tax Returns (Dec. 30, 2011)
- Romney's Doomed 'Tax Returns for College Transcripts' Strategy (Jan. 6, 2012)
