Romney Keeps Millions in the Cayman Islands
Mitt Romney keeps millions of dollars in funds based in the Cayman Islands, a notorious tax shelter, reports ABC News, and while they don't think he's ducking U.S. taxes, the story is another reminder than the guy is very rich. ABC News's team reports Romney invested up to $8 million in funds listed in the Caymans and may have between $5 and $25 million more there in another account. Romney's campaign says none of that money goes untaxed by the American government, and ABC News doesn't really contest that claim, so no one's saying he's doing anything illegal. But the chief point seems to be that this won't look great for Romney because people generally set up funds in the low-tax Caymans to help other people avoid American taxes. They quote Rebecca J. Wilkins of Citizens for Tax Justice:
"It helps U.S. investors avoid U.S. tax," said Wilkins, "it helps foreign investors avoid taxes in their home country, so it's not illegal or improper to set those funds up in a foreign jurisdiction, but it makes it more attractive to investors because it helps them avoid paying taxes on that income."
As with debates over layoffs at Bain and paying 15 percent on your taxes, this feels like another issue where Romney made the same understandable decisions as a business leader and wealthy individual that don't look good when you're running for president while millions of people are unemployed.
