Romney, Stop Using Charity to Defer Taxes
- by: Susan V
- recipient: Mitt Romney
A new report says Romney used a Mormon Church tax loophole to defer paying some of his own personal taxes for 15 years.
Via a Freedom of Information Act request, Bloomberg News says it obtained tax returns that indicate Romney took advantage of the loophole in 1996, just before Congress closed it the next year.
Romney “rented” the Mormon Church’s tax exempt status in a way, says Bloomberg, that acts like an individual retirement account on one hand - allowing Romney’s trust to grow tax-deferred - and like an annuity on the other - paying Romney a steady income as well.
Though the Romney camp says this was legal, it’s just one of several ways Romney has avoided paying taxes on his $250 million fortune. Legal or not, it’s insulting for Romney, who wants millionaires to share less and less of the nation's tax burden, to describe poor Americans, struggling just to survive, as “dependent” on the government.
Tell Romney to stop using charity to defer taxes!
We, the undersigned, believe that it should not have to be up to the press to find out the truth about a presidential candidate’s tax history, nor should a presidential candidate take advantage of and outdated tax loophole.
Mr. Romney, as a candidate for president, you have repeatedly implied that those who are poor and struggling in this economically unequal society are to blame for their poverty, and you also insist that those as privileged as you, those who have had numerous advantages and opportunities to increase their wealth to the detriment of the poor, should continue to shirk their duty to bear the burden of taxes.
Mr. Romney, more and more evidence shows that while you continue to support these policies that will further burden the middle and lower classes, you also continue to take advantage of any loophole to increase your own wealth. You seem to have no understanding of, and even less empathy for, how the average American is struggling in this post-crash economy.
As Senator Harry Reid, also a Morman, noted: “Thousands of families making more than a million dollars per year pay nothing in federal income tax.” And he wonders if you are among them, but adds that “’We’ll never know because’” you refuse to release your tax returns.
There are many requests related to how you have obtained and increased your fortune, but this newest report add this one - that you should stop misusing “charity” to do so.
Thank you for your time.
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