Romney Tax Returns: Of $42 million in Earnings, $6.2 Million in Taxes

By Newsroom America Staff at 24 Jan 2012

(Newsroom America) -- Top GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney, under pressure from Republican rivals to release his tax returns, made his filings for the past two years public on Monday, revealing he paid about $6.2 million in income taxes and gave about $7 million to charity.

The returns indicated income mostly from profits on investments and well as income from dividends an interest, the Washington Post reported. None of his income came in the form of wages.

According to the filings, the Romney's paid about $3 million to the IRS in 2010, for an income tax rate of about 13.2 percent. For 2011, Romney estimates he'll pay about $3.2 million, for an effective rate of about 15.4 percent.

And while those rates are lower than the tax rates of President Obama and Romney's closest Republican rival, Newt Gingrich, it is still far above what most other Americans pay.

According to IRS data, the top 10 percent of earners pay nearly 70 percent of all federal taxes and about half of federal income taxes. Forty-six percent of wage earners pay no federal income taxes, IRS data shows.

"You’ll see my income, how much taxes I’ve paid, how much I’ve paid to charity," Romney said during the latest Republican presidential debate in Tampa Monday. "I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more. I don’t think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes."

He added that his tax rate is "entirely legal and fair," noting, "I’m proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes."

For his part, Obama on Monday stuck to his previous strategy of creating populist anger over the issue.

"The president believes that it is not fair — inherently not fair — that those who are millionaires and billionaires pay at a lower rate than average Americans who are struggling to get by," White House spokesman Jay Carney said. "This theme about economic insecurity for the middle class . . . is what got this president into politics. So this is a foundational belief for him, and he’s happy to have that debate."

Romney's returns run hundreds of pages and each of them are likely to be pored over by both Democratic and Republican rivals.

Brad Malt, Romney’s trustee, told the Post the returns were in order, and that the Romney's had nothing to hide.

Contact Jon E. Dougherty

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