Mitt Romney’s tax returns show more than $42 million income over last two years
Mitt Romney paid $6.2 million in federal taxes over the last two years on income generated almost entirely on investments linked back to his days as a founder and partner in Bain Capital.
According to documents released by his campaign Tuesday, Romney earned $21.7 million in investments in 2010, and he will report another $20.9 million investment income in 2011.
In 2010, Romney paid $3 million in federal taxes but also gave about $3 million to charity—roughly half of that to the Mormon church—which lowered his effective tax rate to roughly 13.9 percent.
According to his 2011 tax return, which hasn't been filed yet, he'll pay $3.2 million in taxes with an effective tax rate of approximately 15.4 percent, according to his campaign. He gave $4 million to charity, including $2.6 million to the Mormon church.
The release comes after weeks of pressure from Romney's rivals for the candidate to release his financial information. After weeks of hedging, Romney finally agreed to release his tax information for the last two years. During Monday's presidential debate in Tampa, he pointedly declined to follow in the footsteps of his father, George Romney, who released 12 years of returns when he sought the presidency in 1964.
Romney said Monday there would be "no surprises" in his filings.
"I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more," Romney said during Monday's debate. "I don't think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes."
But in the process, he took a shot at rival Newt Gingrich's tax plan. Romney noted that his income is almost entirely derived through capital gains and noted that under Gingrich's proposal—which would eliminate taxes on capital gains—he would have paid no taxes.
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