Romney Releases 2011 Tax Return Along With Summaries of Filings Since 1990

By Ewen MacAskill, Guardian UK

21 September 12

20 years of summaries - shared amid Democratic pressure - show couple's federal tax rate varied between 13.6% and 20.2%

itt Romney bowed to sustained pressure from the Democrats on Friday by releasing a summary of his tax returns for the last two decades.

The summary shows that, contrary to suspicions voiced by the Democrats that he was hiding his returns because he had paid no taxes some years, he and his wife Ann paid federal and state income tax every year since 1990.

Their average federal tax rate over that period was 20.2% and at no time dropped below 13.6%, according to the summary prepared by his accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

But it will not satisfy the Democrats who will focus on many remaining unanswered questions. They will continue to press him to release his full tax returns going back at least five years, question him over his use of offshore tax havens and investigate further Bain Capital, the investment company where he made his fortune.

Brad Woodhouse, a Democratic national committee spokesman, wrote on Twitter: "Summaries? What is Romney hiding? This isn't just abt rates — how about Swiss Bank Accts, Bermuda Shell Cos and Caymans Investments?"

Romney, as he promised earlier this year he would do, also released Friday his tax return for 2011 in which he paid $1.9m, a tax rate of 14.1% on an income of $13.7m, mainly from investments. The top rate of income tax is 35% but Romney's income is mainly from investments, which attracts a 15% rate.

The couple paid more than $4m, about 30% of their income, to charity. They also, unusually, limited the amount they could claim as a tax deduction on charitable givings.

In August, Romney said he had paid at least 13% in taxes in each of the last 10 years. His campaign team said his tax bill for 2011 would have been higher but, in order to comply with the 13% comment, the Romneys limited the amount they could have deducted from the charitable contributions.

Earlier this year, he released his tax returns for 2010, mainly as a result of criticism from Republican opponents during the hard-fought primary season that he had not released any. At the time, he promised he would release his 2011 returns too.

The rates paid by the Romneys, who have an estimated fortune of more than $200m, are much lower than many low- or middle-income families.

He had repeatedly refused to follow the convention set by previous White House challengers in releasing multiple tax returns, including his own father George, who released 12 years' worth during the 1968 Republican presidential campaign. Obama has also released 12 years' worth of tax returns.

Publication of some of his tax details comes at the end of a week which has been the candidate's worst period on the campaign trail, dominated by the release of a secret video of a speech behind-closed-doors in Florida in May.

In the speech, he portrayed 47% of the American population as freeloaders, dependent on federal government help, who pay no tax and who vote for Barack Obama.

The senate majority leader Harry Reid, in an interview in July, said he had heard from a source that the reason Romney refused to release his tax returns was because he had not paid any for a decade. An ad paid for by the Obama campaign also questioned whether he had paid any taxes at all.

Discussing his tax returns in January, Romney said: "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."

Romney's running-mate, Paul Ryan, released his 2011 tax return earlier this year, paying $65,000 on $323,416 in income, a 15% rate.

A doctor's letter released by the Romney campaign alongside his tax return confirms he is in good health. It records the usual details about his diet, heart rate and tablets to lower his cholesterol and low-dosage aspirin in hopes of reducing the chance of a heart attack.

But the doctor goes beyond that to make what almost sounds like a political broadcast.

"He has shown the ability to be engaged in multiple, varied, simultaneous activities requiring complex mental, social, emotional and leadership skills."

The doctor, Randall Gaz, goes on to say: "He is a vigorous man who takes excellent care of his physical health. He has reserves of strength, energy and stamina that provide him with the ability to meet unexpected demands. There are no physical impairments that should interfere with his rigorous and demanding political career as the next president of the United States."

Ryan's doctor, Timothy Kronquist, said the candidate's overall health was excellent. "You have practised important preventive lifestyle choices to include regular vigorous aerobic and strength-building exercises, a heart healthy diet, smoking abstinence and infrequent alcohol use."