WASHINGTON, D.C. (MCT) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, paid $3 million in federal taxes in 2010 on nearly $21.7 million of income derived from a vast array of investments, amounting to an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent, according returns released by his campaign Tuesday.
In addition, the Romneys expect to pay $3.2 million on $20.9 million of income for the 2011 tax year, for an effective rate of 15.4 percent.
That’s substantially lower than the top 35 percent marginal tax rate on wages and salaries — and much lower than the rate than his political rivals. President Obama paid an effective tax rate of 26 percent in 2010, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich paid a rate of 31.6 percent. Experts say Romney benefits from a tax code that allows investors to keep more of their income than wage earners, particularly investors in the rarefied world of private equity.
Even among his wealthy peers — a cohort that particularly benefits from the lower capital gains rate — Romney’s rate is below the average 18.5 percent effective tax rate paid by the richest 1 percent, according to the Tax Policy Center.
“I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more,” Romney said in a debate in Tampa on Monday night hosted by NBC. “I don’t think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes.”
“I’m proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes, and the fact is there are a lot of people in this country that pay a lot of taxes,” he added. “I’d like to see our tax rate come down and focus on growing the country, getting people back to work. That’s our problem in this country right now.”
The longtime private-equity chieftain hopeful released his tax returns after pressure from Gingrich and at the urging of his political allies, who fretted that the matter was becoming a dangerous distraction.
