The non disclosure is doing damage. more damage than disclosure. Unless So something makes no sense. #1 if he barely paid any taxes, so what if he releases it it will be a big yawn and everyone would think "I knew that" and end of story. The only thing I could think is he broke the law and has committed tax evasion. Releasing returns would put him liable for charges. Any other theories?
As I recall, it was something along the lines of putting some shares from Bain in his IRA/401k at some nominal value, which then wound up being valued at quite a bit more later. Which, on googling, turns out to be one of the theories that would both explain the low tax rate and his huge IRA:
Funny you mention that. My wife said something that his IRA was X amount of dollars and she that that made no sense. I told here I agree but that maybe she heard something wrong. Since 401Ks are capped in the amount you can put into every year. but all this speculation is not helping him. He needs to throw all the cards on the table and take his beatings at one time and be done. What he is doing is much worse, nothing like mystery and uncertainty to really make hime look worse to the public. Unless he broke IRS laws and disclosure puts him into a situation of criminal liability.
Two Yearsâ Returns Not Enough for Romney Either August 15, 2012 at 2:03 pm Ed Brayton As Mitt Romney refuses to release more than two years of his own tax returns (in fact heâs only released one so far, but has said heâll release a second year), it seems thatâs not good enough for his own potential vice presidential candidates. He required more from them during the vetting process. The campaign team for Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, reviewed several years of tax returns from Ryan and others, according to Beth Myers, the head of Romneyâs vice presidential search process. But Romney â a former private equity executive with an estimated net worth of up to $250 million â has refused to publicly release more than two years of tax returns⦠During an interview with Romney on CBSâs â60 Minutesâ on Sunday, Ryan said he would follow Romneyâs lead and release two years of his tax returns. Tim Pawlenty, a former Minnesota governor who was a potential Romney running mate, said he also had to submit several years of tax returns during the search for a Republican vice presidential candidate. âSo more than two?â asked George Stephanopoulos, the host of ABCâs âThis Week.â âWell, we donât get into the details of the vetting process, but I gave him a bunch of tax returns,â Pawlenty replied. âI donât remember the exact number of years.â So the candidate for vice president has to show many years of returns to him, but two years is enough for voters, err, I mean, âyou people.â Isnât that convenient for him?
I'm sure there's nothing criminal about it. Dishonest in terms of stretching the law to its limits, yes, criminal, not likely. Embarrassing? You betcha.
But if that is the case, then just release them. Not like no one is going to be surprised that he pays no taxes or maybe 15% at best. The whole "I wont release" just adds too much mystery/suspicion/uncertainty and that is worse. Unless what he has is so bad that (or illegal) that he would rather not win the election VS releasing the returns.