When truth about Romney's tax amnesty comes out, can his donors sue him for not disclosing

[cbdo2007]

this sooner??

This revelation will make him virtually unelectable with him receiving an embarrassingly small percentage of the electoral college votes this year, so will his donors be able to put in a class action lawsuit because of him keeping this information from them??

Obviously, they knew they were supporting a lying, cheating, questionable person all along, but I would think him keeping something as important as this secret would have prevented him winning the primaries and would have generated tens of Millions of $$$ less donations than he received. Will be fun to watch it all play out!

[randome]

1. How would the truth come out? Anyone disclosing confidential information will likely be sued.

By Romney.

[global1]

7. Can The Swiss Government Release This Informations Without Repercussions?..........nt

[randome]

9. Interesting question but I doubt it.

They no longer hide bank accounts the way the used to but I'm sure big money clients would not be pleased if their private information was used for political purposes.

I would think there are still strict Swiss laws against that.

[global1]

11. What Happened With This From Wikileaks?.......

http://mashable.com/2011/01/17/wikileaks-swiss-bank-account/

Also - if you google Swiss Bank Accounts a lot of info comes up as to how you can get a swiss bank account yourself. Looks like UBS and Credit Suisse are two biggest dealers in Swiss Bank Accounts.

Here's what wikipedia says about US/Swiss Accounts:

United States

Swiss bank accounts cannot be opened without the holder signing a legal document asserting that they have no outstanding financial obligations to the IRS. Despite this, Swiss banks have been criticized for improperly shielding tax evaders.

In January 2003, the United States Department of Treasury announced a new information-sharing agreement under the already extant U.S.-Swiss Income Tax Convention;[42] the agreement was intended to facilitate more effective tax information exchange between the two countries.[43] However, Swiss policy has continued to come under international criticism, and in March 2009 Switzerland agreed to renegotiate more effective tax cooperation with the United States and other countries.[44]

Here's another interesting site I came across Link:http://www.capitalconservator.com/bank-accounts/swiss-bank-account.php

Here's a tidbit from that link: Swiss bank accounts aren't "secret" anymore. Swiss banking giant UBS had Executives operating out of the headquarters of Swiss banking giant UBS were indicted by the US for assisting 17,000 non-resident account holders, high net worth US citizens, avoid taxes. In addition, it has been alleged that the US treasury department has been clandestinely tracking financial transactions between Swiss financial institutions. Using tools designed to combat terrorism, they have apparently tapped into 'remotegate', a system used for international financial transaction clearances.

Another interesting fact when opening a Swiss Bank Account is: You can get a numbered bank accounts, however, in order to do so you are required to show up and identify yourself in person in Switzerland. At that point, the bank still has your name and details, and your details will be given to the authorities if you are pursued.

I wonder when Rmoney opened his Swiss Bank Account? Do we have any of his travel details? He had to show up in person - hmmmm!!!!!!

[surrealAmerican]

2. Giving money to a political campaign ...

... even rather a lot of money, is not buying a product. I don't see any way a donor could win such a lawsuit.

[joeybee12]

3. I think when Ben Dumbhorse Campbell switched parties back in the 90's...

Some donors tried to sue his sorry ass, but I believe the suits were thrown out.

[Cicada]

4. I doubt Romney got tax amnesty

I used to work in the tax dept of one of the giant acctg firms, tho not the one Romney uses. We had clients like Romney. And I doubt Romney had illegal Swiss accounts. We had a hundred ways to reduce taxes using the laws of many nations to game the system without resorting to obviously illegal methods. A guy like Romney can play the tax treaties like a fiddle with no need to take the huge risk of facing a jail term. Romney didn't use illegally hidden Swiss accounts. It didn't happen. The LEGAL methods he used stink to high heaven - but they are so effective only a total moron would use ILLEGAL as opposed to legal foreign holdings.

[Democat]

5. If he isn't hiding amnesty, is it something worse?

Why would he take the risk of people thinking he took amnesty by not releasing his returns? Could there be something even worse in there?

[cbdo2007]

6. He's got to be hiding something.....this just seems like the most damaging....

I woudl think if he used legal methods, he would have gone ahead and come out with them and just said, "I didn't do anything illegal...." and it's got to be something more damaging than the tax rate, which the majority will just shrug their shoulders at. Maybe Romney wouldnt' do it, but he probably is involved with a trust or a shady person who DID do it with his money, so he would be implicated either way. He probably has a hundred people he is trusting to help him hide his money each year....you don't think any of them may have made a mistake along the way?

[Spazito]

10. Hmmm, then why did over 14,000 wealthy Americans run to the IRS amnesty program?

"The disclosure of Swiss banking information — which caused a fierce political debate in Switzerland before winning approval from the country’s Parliament — set off such a panic among wealthy Americans that more than 14,000 of them joined a tax amnesty program. I.R.S. officials say the amnesty program has helped recover more than $5 billion in unpaid taxes."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/business/whistle-blower-awarded-104-million-by-irs.html

You have NO idea whether he was one of the "more than 14,000" or not. Romney, given his allegiance to no one but himself and his accumulation of wealth, would be exactly the kind of person who would use BOTH the legal AND illegal methods to grow his wealth, imo.

[Berlum]

8. Republicans are not going to go after a Tax Dodger (R)

if he is in the multi-million dollar bracket. They love that the 1% can screw everyone else and get away with it.