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Mitt Romney Tax Return

January 24, 2012 by · Comments Off on Mitt Romney Tax Return 

Mitt Romney Tax ReturnMitt Romney Tax Return, The release of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s 2010 tax return today may only inflame the controversy over the tax code’s treatment of some of the nation’s richest individuals.

Romney, who made a fortune of as much as $250 million in the private-equity industry, paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent on income of $21.6 million in 2010, according to a tax return his campaign showed reporters last night and will release today. That compares with the 35 percent top marginal tax rate.

As the Republican presidential candidate prepares to make public his tax returns, the Obama administration is seeking to benefit from debate over the so-called carried interest provision, which provides a relative handful of investment executives with preferential tax rates. President Barack Obama views the tax break as a “loophole” that is “just not fair,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said last week.

At issue is the U.S. tax code’s treatment of carried interest, or the share of profits that partners in private equity firms, hedge funds and real estate developments receive as the bulk of their compensation. That income is taxed at the 15 percent capital gains rate rather than at ordinary income rates of as much as 35 percent, although many tax specialists say it represents compensation for labor.

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