RightChange: Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns

The trap is set.  Mitt Romney released his tax returns and Obama and his team are ready to use it against him.   The Washington Post got the first glimpse into Romney’s anticipated tax record and they are nothing out of the ordinary.  Romney’s returns prove one thing: he has abided by the laws of our broken tax code and our government will never do anything about it.

“Mitt Romney offered a partial snapshot of his vast personal fortune late Monday, disclosing income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year — virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments.

None came from wages, the primary source of income for most Americans. Instead, Romney and his wife, Ann, collected millions in capital gains from a profusion of investments, as well as stock dividends and interest payments.”

Obama’s team couldn’t wait to use this against him:

“The president believes that it is not fair — inherently not fair — that those who are millionaires and billionaires pay at a lower rate than average Americans who are struggling to get by,” White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Monday. “This theme about economic insecurity for the middle class . . . is what got this president into politics. So this is a foundational belief for him, and he’s happy to have that debate.”

According to the laws of our tax code, Romney paid the legal amount he was supposed to.  He didn’t earn any wages because he has been running for President since 2008.  Romney and his family have been living off of their investments (capital gains.) Capital gains is an entrepreneurial tax that investors pay when they want to invest in their business, i.e. grow their company, i.e. create jobs.  Therefore, capital gains are usually set at a lower rate to provide incentives for companies to grow.

This rate is what President Obama and his team have used to fool the public into thinking that the rich pay less than the poor. This is a huge misconception.  Why?

The money that the evil rich use to invest in their companies has already been taxed at the effective income tax rate, usually at 35%.

Romney may be paying 14% on his capital gains right now, but he has already paid taxes on that money.

This shouldn’t scare you; it proves that Romney is an investor, which would be beneficial to growing our economy if he was elected.

Not only do Romney’s taxes prove that he is an overtaxed investor, they prove he is pretty charitable.  He gave $3 million to charity in 2010 and an estimated $4 million in 2011.  None of this is out of the ordinary or illegal.  It does prove that our tax code is broken.

President Obama’s plan would raise the capital gains tax and add another surtax on millionaires and billionaires.  This takes our broken system and breaks it harder.  It also soaks the rich to pay for more government spending which is already out of control.  What would be fairer is if we had a flatter, simpler tax code that everyone contributed to.  The only thing standing in the way of that is our big spending President and Congress.  Our leaders hide behind our complicated tax code as a means to call for more government spending and Romney’s tax returns prove it.

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