Anonymous wrote:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/business/inquiry-on-tax-strategy-adds-to-scrutiny-of-finance-firms.html?_r=1&hp

This New York Times article is about some either quasi-legal or illegal money movement at Bain and several other companies like it. They're under investigation by the NY Attorney General.

A clue to part of Myth's reluctance to release his taxes?

1) The NY Attorney General doesn't enforce the tax code.

2) The Senate Finance Committee was looking into the fee conversion issue as long ago as 2007. This is hardly a new discovery. (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aYdxW3YnhjK4&refer=home)

3) Calling him "Myth" really undercuts your credibility.

4) All of that said, I do think there's some no-nos there.

This lays out all of the questions on Romney's taxes quite clearly:

http://www.taxanalysts.com/www/features.nsf/Articles/1DB2A18D079EDCD685257A59001CB873?OpenDocument

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/business/inquiry-on-tax-strategy-adds-to-scrutiny-of-finance-firms.html?_r=1&hp

This New York Times article is about some either quasi-legal or illegal money movement at Bain and several other companies like it. They're under investigation by the NY Attorney General.

A clue to part of Myth's reluctance to release his taxes?

I googled blind trusts. They are used to cover up bribes.
I can see how this story will not end well. Nobody cares what % tax he pays or how much money has. We just want to know if he is a sleazeball. And it sure sounds like he is

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to know, if he does release more info and it is damning, how many Americans will actually care enough to change the way they will vote?
How would the media (Fox) spin it so their audience really wouldn't even care.

I like to imagine the release of Romney's funny money tax returns having an effect on Fox viewers similar to that when Troy turns the A/C really low in the Halloween Zombie episode of Community. Mental fog clearing and the dawning knowledge you've been taken in (although the zombies weren't conned. I'm mixing my metaphors.).

I'm curious to know, if he does release more info and it is damning, how many Americans will actually care enough to change the way they will vote?
How would the media (Fox) spin it so their audience really wouldn't even care.

Anonymous wrote:OP again. Good answers so far. I am genuinely interested in this. Obviously, there is a pretty good chance that not releasing his tax returns might be political suicide, so the contents must be absolutely toxic.

Here's some of the speculation, assuming that Romney is on the up and up about his 13% federal income tax rate (compared to 20% for Ryan and the mid-20s for the Obamas):

1. Lots of dodgy (though perhaps legal) tax avoidance structures, using an array of offshore havens. Remember that Romney has only released 2010, when he had actively been running for president for 4 or 5 years. These structures take a while to clean up, and look at the outrage and derision Mitt met with his 2010 return. The earlier ones are probably much more problematic.

2. Mitt's returns contain other politically toxic items. Some believe that Mitt made a big bet against the subprime market and profited very handsomely. Not illegal at all and perhaps smart investing, but political poison while other Americans were losing their jobs, savings and homes during the financial crisis.

3. More clarity on how the aforementioned 401k somehow grew to a gazillion dollars. Speculation is that Mitt put investment shares into them using valuations that tax professionals euphemistically call "extremely agressive."

OP again. Good answers so far. I am genuinely interested in this. Obviously, there is a pretty good chance that not releasing his tax returns might be political suicide, so the contents must be absolutely toxic.

maybe claiming florida residency?

Mitt Romney has an Individual Retirement Account, just like you probably do! But unlike you, Mitten's has somewhere between $20 million and $101 million yin his account. That's the guesstimate bard on his released return
We know that the maximum amount one can contribute to an IRA account is $17,000 per year (employers can match that with up to $30,000). So that would be a pretty impressive performance – what an investor!

typo Vanity FIr 2012

Vanity Fair Aug 2013

To give but one example, there is a Bermuda-based entity called Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd., which has been described in securities filings as “a Bermuda corporation wholly owned by W. Mitt Romney.” It could be that Sankaty is an old vehicle with little importance, but Romney appears to have treated it rather carefully. He set it up in 1997, then transferred it to his wife’s newly created blind trust on January 1, 2003, the day before he was inaugurated as Massachusetts’s governor. The director and president of this entity is R. Bradford Malt, the trustee of the blind trust and Romney’s personal lawyer. Romney failed to list this entity on several financial disclosures, even though such a closely held entity would not qualify as an “excepted investment fund” that would not need to be on his disclosure forms. He finally included it on his 2010 tax return. Even after examining that return, we have no idea what is in this company, but it could be valuable, meaning that it is possible Romney’s wealth is even greater than previous estimates. While the Romneys’ spokespeople insist that the couple has paid all the taxes required by law, investments in tax havens such as Bermuda raise many questions, because they are in “jurisdictions where there is virtually no tax and virtually no compliance,” as one Miami-based offshore lawyer put it.

Bain profits from medical waste disposal (aborted fetuses)
http://www.renewamerica.com/article/120822

Ooh, it would most certainly spell the end of his campaign.
Maybe he only wants the presidency so that he can scam away more of his money, put America in more debt, increase his monetary worth and start a dynasty and reign supreme as king/dictator.
After his term America will certainly be in more trouble

So he possibly pays 13% tax rate, if you believe his claim. Could be sales tax and customs fees for custom made dressage equipment, but I digress. Clearly, Slippery Mitt is hiding something, otherwise why not just release the damn things, as is now tradition (thanks, Dad!).

So what is he hiding? Pays no taxes? Hid money overseas and took advantage of amnesty?