Tax avoidance IS what Romney has done for a living. That’s what separates him from the rest frankly; he has found a way to save tens of millions by aggressively and creatively avoiding his tax bill through various complicated tax structures using offshore bank accounts.
Romney claims that he hasn’t even save $1 in taxes by using offshore bank accounts. My response to that is simple … I do not think anyone is stupid enough to believe that Romney invests money in offshore tax havens because he just prefers his money in Luxembourg, Switzerland or the Caymans. If someone believes that – they’ve flunked the IQ test and may consider seeking some professional help. Every single expert who sees this knows he’s lying; that’s why he won’t show his tax returns. There is being partisan and then there is being a complete intellectual lapdog.
When you read the NY Times article … consider these things we’ve reported on before relative to Romney’s tax dodging:
#1 – Bloomberg reported that Romney used tax avoidance scheme with his $100 million family trust HERE.
#2 – Fellow private equity billionaire Steve Rattner says Romney “pushed the envelope all the way to the edge” in a way noone else has HERE.
#3 – Joseph Stiglitz says Romney is a tax avoider HERE.
#4 – Expert tax professor says that Romney has not paid all of his taxes by law HERE.
#5 – Bloomberg says Romney “oversaw the largest tax avoidance scheme in history” HERE.
#6 – Bloomberg highlights how Romney “ripped off” Italian taxpayers using tax avoidance schemes HERE.
#7 – Romney will not release a tax return before 2010 where he clearly understood that he was running for President. Romney even opted to pay more in taxes in 2011 because his real life tax rate would probably be 9 to 10% for that year HERE.
The NY Times investigates HERE:
A review of thousands of pages of financial documents and interviews with tax lawyers found that in some cases, the offshore arrangements enabled his individual retirement account to avoid taxes on its investments and may well have reduced Mr. Romney’s personal income tax bills.
But perhaps a more significant impact of Mr. Romney’s offshore investments has been on the profit side of the ledger — in the way Bain’s tax-avoidance strategies have enhanced his income.
Some of the offshore entities enabled Bain-owned companies to sidestep certain taxes, increasing returns for Mr. Romney and other investors. Others helped Bain attract foreign investors and nonprofit institutions by insulating them from taxes, again augmenting Mr. Romney’s bottom line, since he shared in management fees based on the size of each Bain fund.
The documents — which include confidential Bain prospectuses and foreign regulatory filings, many previously unreported — illustrate how these tax-avoidance strategies are woven into the fabric of Bain’s deal making. While hardly a novel concept and not unique to Bain, the inevitable result is that elite investors like Mr. Romney are able to increase their fortunes in ways unavailable to most taxpayers.
We want to see his tax returns.
1 Comment
[...] Americans became much more aware of the loopholes used by the ultra wealthy during the 2012 election precisely because of Mitt Romney’s history of manipulating the tax code. We’ve written about that many times but there is this one from the NY Times that makes it clear tax avoidance using offshore tax havens like the Caymans is just how they do business (source). [...]