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Romney Says He’s Been Audited (updated 3x)
Last edited Mon Jul 30, 2012, 08:13 PM - Edit history (2)
Romney Says He’s Been Audited
Mitt Romney said that he had been audited more than once in his interview with ABC’s David Muir. In response to a question about his tax rate, Romney casually mentioned the audits.
From ABC’s transcript:
It’s not uncommon for wealthy individuals to be audited, but the comment is unlikely to allay people’s desire to see more of Romney’s tax returns.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/romney-says-hes-been-audited
Mitt Romney said that he had been audited more than once in his interview with ABC’s David Muir. In response to a question about his tax rate, Romney casually mentioned the audits.
From ABC’s transcript:
Muir: Was there ever any year when you paid lower than 13.9%?
Romney: I haven’t calculated that. I’m happy to go back and look but my view is I’ve paid all the taxes required by law. From time to time I’ve been audited as happens I think to other citizens as well and the accounting firm which prepares (my) taxes has done a very thorough and complete job pay(ing) taxes as legally due. I don’t pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don’t think I’d be qualified to become president. I’d think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.
Romney: I haven’t calculated that. I’m happy to go back and look but my view is I’ve paid all the taxes required by law. From time to time I’ve been audited as happens I think to other citizens as well and the accounting firm which prepares (my) taxes has done a very thorough and complete job pay(ing) taxes as legally due. I don’t pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don’t think I’d be qualified to become president. I’d think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.
It’s not uncommon for wealthy individuals to be audited, but the comment is unlikely to allay people’s desire to see more of Romney’s tax returns.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/romney-says-hes-been-audited
Audited by whom? Does "audited* = no immoral or potentially illegal findings? I mean, if you were hiding money from the IRS, and the audit occurred before any amnesty, what does that have to do with anything?
Mitt, since you're a pathological liar, release your returns. After all, you've been "audited" so there is nothing to hide, right?
Updated to add:
Romney: I've paid 'very substantial' taxes every year ... 'so far as I can recall'
by Jed Lewison
Mitt Romney's tax returns are still following him around the globe, but this time, instead of a question about whether he'll release more returns, ABC's David Muir asked Romney a question about what might or not be in those secret tax returns. Specifically, Muir asked Romney whether he's ever paid a lower effective tax rate than 13.9 percent he paid on his 2010 returns. Romney's answer:
Of course, Mitt will never "go back and look" because if he did that, he'd have an even tougher time justifying his tax return secrecy. And when Muir asked the natural follow-up—"you said you would go back and look, would you look for us?"—Romney backed down.
So, not only did he drop the "happy to look" bluff, he added "so far as I can recall" into the mix—and that's a phrase no politician who is being accused of hiding something should ever use. But even if Romney's recollection is accurate, it's worth noting that by his definition, 13.9 percent is "a very substantial amount of taxes."
That's absurd on it's face, but it's doubly absurd in light of another argument Romney made to Muir. "Frankly, if I had paid more than are legally due, I don't think I'd be qualified to become president," he said. "I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires."
In one sense, Romney is right. As long as you're not using Swiss bank accounts and Bermuda shell corporations to shelter income and dodge taxes, nobody should pay more than they are legally required. But Romney is refusing to reveal the information which would show whether or not he exploited the law and took advantage of gray areas.
And all of this would be different if Romney were to say that while he pays 13.9 percent, he recognizes that his tax rate is much lower than other people's tax rates—and that it's not fair for someone of his wealth to pay less than somebody making 1 percent or even 5 percent as much as he does every year. But Romney isn't saying that. He's not just saying that he's paid what he has legally owed, he's described what he's legally owed as "a very substantial" tax burden. Sorry, Mitt: 13.9 percent isn't substantial. Not even close.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/30/1114973/-Romney-I-ve-paid-very-substantial-taxes-every-year-so-far-as-I-can-recall
by Jed Lewison
Mitt Romney's tax returns are still following him around the globe, but this time, instead of a question about whether he'll release more returns, ABC's David Muir asked Romney a question about what might or not be in those secret tax returns. Specifically, Muir asked Romney whether he's ever paid a lower effective tax rate than 13.9 percent he paid on his 2010 returns. Romney's answer:
I haven't calculated that. I'm happy to go back and look but my view is I've paid all the taxes required by law.
Of course, Mitt will never "go back and look" because if he did that, he'd have an even tougher time justifying his tax return secrecy. And when Muir asked the natural follow-up—"you said you would go back and look, would you look for us?"—Romney backed down.
I haven't looked at the tax rate paid year by year. I know that I pay a very substantial amount of taxes and every year since the beginning of my career so far as I can recall.
So, not only did he drop the "happy to look" bluff, he added "so far as I can recall" into the mix—and that's a phrase no politician who is being accused of hiding something should ever use. But even if Romney's recollection is accurate, it's worth noting that by his definition, 13.9 percent is "a very substantial amount of taxes."
That's absurd on it's face, but it's doubly absurd in light of another argument Romney made to Muir. "Frankly, if I had paid more than are legally due, I don't think I'd be qualified to become president," he said. "I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires."
In one sense, Romney is right. As long as you're not using Swiss bank accounts and Bermuda shell corporations to shelter income and dodge taxes, nobody should pay more than they are legally required. But Romney is refusing to reveal the information which would show whether or not he exploited the law and took advantage of gray areas.
And all of this would be different if Romney were to say that while he pays 13.9 percent, he recognizes that his tax rate is much lower than other people's tax rates—and that it's not fair for someone of his wealth to pay less than somebody making 1 percent or even 5 percent as much as he does every year. But Romney isn't saying that. He's not just saying that he's paid what he has legally owed, he's described what he's legally owed as "a very substantial" tax burden. Sorry, Mitt: 13.9 percent isn't substantial. Not even close.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/30/1114973/-Romney-I-ve-paid-very-substantial-taxes-every-year-so-far-as-I-can-recall
Anyone believe Mitt hasn't seen his tax returns recently and has no idea what's in them?
Update 2:
*** Romney admits he’s been audited by the IRS: Romney made some other -- call it accidental -- news yesterday in his interview with ABC. He mentioned he had been audited by the IRS. In response to question about his tax returns, the GOP candidate said, “[M]y view is I’ve paid all the taxes required by law. From time to time I’ve been audited, as happens I think to other citizens as well… I don’t pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don’t think I’d be qualified to become president.” The Romney campaign will not say what year he was audited -- only that he was found to be in compliance and that the audit took place more than 10 years ago. But while being audited isn’t that odd, it only adds to the narrative that his tax returns are so unique that it invites an audit.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/30/13032341-first-thoughts-recapping-romneys-israel-stop
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/30/13032341-first-thoughts-recapping-romneys-israel-stop
So being audited "from time to time" becomes audited once "more than 10 years ago"?
Oops!
Courtesy DUer aint_no_life_nowhere:
...Romney's campaign has said he's never been audited. "I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more," Romney said during a January primary debate. ...
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/should-mitt-romney-be-audited
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/07/should-mitt-romney-be-audited
Again, oops!
Update 3:
Romney Keeps ABC Waiting For Promised Tax Information
Benjy Sarlin
Despite telling ABC News over the weekend he’d be “happy” to hand over more information on his past tax returns, Mitt Romney has yet to follow up on their request.
<...>
But ABC says Romney officials have not gotten back to them on whether Romney ever paid a lower tax rate than 13.9% despite their repeated queries. Instead, they received a rehash of Romney’s already disclosed taxes and charitable donations from 2010, suggesting that Romney may have overpromised in his interview what his campaign was willing to reveal.
<...>
The Obama campaign accused Romney of “breaking his promise” by not disclosing more details about his tax rate.
“It’s not surprising that Mitt Romney - the most secretive nominee in recent history - is once again siding against transparency and breaking his promise to ‘go back and look’ at additional tax returns to see if he ever paid less than his 2010 rate of 13.9%,” Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement. “His refusal to do so raises serious questions about just how much he has paid in taxes and whether he has resorted to tax loopholes and dodges to avoid paying his fair share. He can put these questions to rest by following decades of precedent by releasing additional years worth of returns and providing the full account of the income tax rates he paid, as he promised he would just days ago.”
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-keeps-abc-waiting-for-promised-tax-information.php
Benjy Sarlin
Despite telling ABC News over the weekend he’d be “happy” to hand over more information on his past tax returns, Mitt Romney has yet to follow up on their request.
<...>
But ABC says Romney officials have not gotten back to them on whether Romney ever paid a lower tax rate than 13.9% despite their repeated queries. Instead, they received a rehash of Romney’s already disclosed taxes and charitable donations from 2010, suggesting that Romney may have overpromised in his interview what his campaign was willing to reveal.
<...>
The Obama campaign accused Romney of “breaking his promise” by not disclosing more details about his tax rate.
“It’s not surprising that Mitt Romney - the most secretive nominee in recent history - is once again siding against transparency and breaking his promise to ‘go back and look’ at additional tax returns to see if he ever paid less than his 2010 rate of 13.9%,” Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement. “His refusal to do so raises serious questions about just how much he has paid in taxes and whether he has resorted to tax loopholes and dodges to avoid paying his fair share. He can put these questions to rest by following decades of precedent by releasing additional years worth of returns and providing the full account of the income tax rates he paid, as he promised he would just days ago.”
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/07/romney-keeps-abc-waiting-for-promised-tax-information.php
40 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
So Stop Saying That!
"Frankly, if I had paid more than are legally due, I don't think I'd be qualified to become president," he said. "I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires."
WTF? 
rocktivitiy
is disqualified, in rmoney's mind, from being president?
for being insufficiently greedy, i guess?
paperwork or proof showing what everyone thinks is or isn't in Mitten & Ann's tax returns? Weaving a tale for speculation on all fronts & breaking it out in say....September? Seems the seeds have been planted in the drought plagued swing states & once the dog days of summer are over...who knows if all the chatter might be a precursor to the truth coming out before the debates? I would love to see something like being outed as Mr. 1% wipe the smirk off his mug. 
