Mitt Romney's had such a rough week, he's apparently more than happy to change the subject to his...tax returns?
Yes, the GOP presidential nominee released his 2011 tax returns today. The campaign published the following summary:
- The Romneys paid $1,935,708 in taxes on $13,696,951 in mostly investment income.
- The Romneys' effective tax rate for 2011 was 14.1%.
- The Romneys donated $4,020,772 to charity in 2011, amounting to nearly 30% of their income.
- The Romneys claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of those charitable contributions.
The Romneys' generous charitable donations in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year.
But they decided to limit their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to Romney's August statement, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13 percent in income taxes in each of the last 10 years. Otherwise, Romney’s tax liability would have been far lower in 2011.
Ironically, by limiting his deductions, Romney technically disqualified himself from the presidency. In July 2012, he told ABC News:
"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 earns the majority of his income from investment profits, dividends and interest, which is taxed at a lower rate than income.
The Romney campaign also released a letter from accountants saying he owed an average effective federal tax rate of 20.2 percent over the 20-year period ending in 2009.
Romney's campaign said the lowest annual federal personal tax rate he owed over the 20 years was 13.66 percent, significantly less than many middle class families pay.
Romney's refusal to release returns prior to 2010 had given Democrats an opportunity to claim he paid little or no taxes and paint him as an out-of-touch millionaire.