Mitt Romney has finally released his tax returns, after being nearly universally criticized for not doing so already. Interestingly enough, Mitt’s father George Romney was a pioneer in the field of financial transparency, releasing 12 years of tax returns when he ran for president in 1968. Well, in an “unlike father, unlike son” moment, Romney has limited his tax releases to one year’s worth.
Think Progress points out the 6 most important and disturbing facts revealed by the tax returns (besides the fact that Mitt made $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million in 2011 or, as Mitt would probably call it, “not very much”). Let’s have a looksie!
1. Romney paid a lower tax rate than many middle-class Americans: Romney’s returns reveal that he paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent, lower even than the low rate of 15 percent he estimated he paid last week. While this is far less than what many middle-class Americans pay, it’s also well below what wealthy people pay. The average effective tax rate for someone in Romney’s income bracket is25 percent.
2. Romney makes more in a day than the average American makes in a year, and becomes a 1 percenter every week: As Bloomberg News notes, “In 2008, according to the IRS, the median adjusted gross income was $33,048, which Romney made in less than a day. Reaching the top 1 percent of taxpayers required $380,354 in adjusted gross income, about Romney’s earnings in a week.”
3. Romney paid almost nothing in payroll taxes: Romney contributed just .1 percent of his income to Social Security and Medicare in 2010 via the payroll tax because the tax is only assessed on earned wages, but all of Romney’s income came from investments. Most working Americans pay 7.65 percent.
Check out Think Progress for the rest.
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