Bloomberg News: Romney ‘rented’ Mormon church’s exemption to defer taxes for 15 years

[theglammistress]

This just came out today. Huge.


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/10/29/bloomberg-news-romney-rented-mormon-churchs-exemption-to-defer-taxes-for-15-years/


Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney used a loophole to “rent” the Mormon church’s tax exemption status and defer paying taxes for 15 years, according to a new report.

Tax returns obtained by Bloomberg News through a Freedom of Information Act request indicated that Romney set up a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) in June 1996 just before Congress cracked down on the loophole in 1997.

“In this instance, Romney used the tax-exempt status of a charity — the Mormon Church, according to a 2007 filing — to defer taxes for more than 15 years,” Bloomberg’s Jesse Drucker explained. “At the same time he is benefitting, the trust will probably leave the church with less than what current law requires.”

[byeya]

1. Grand Scale Grifter

[nc4bo]

14. I've always thought of him as a grifter, it's not an often used word when describing him

but it definitely fits.

Grifter on a GRAND scale indeed.

[xtraxritical]

104. The entire LDS religion is a "grift".

[Kablooie]

115. Or world class businessman.

Not an entrepreneur, just a businessman who grabs every penny he can and makes other businessmen envious.
In other words, a jerk.

[meadowlark5]

2. He's such a great guy

All the qualities of a great president.

[oldbanjo]

29. Yes sir, him and Ryan, hurray for me the Hell with you.

[GeorgeGist]

3. 1996+15=2011

[upi402]

7. ^ + 1,000 n/t

[Cosmocat]

56. Harry Reid knew WTF he was talking about!

nm

[freshwest]

109. +1

[Berlum]

123. + 1,000

[6502]

121. "1996+15=2011"

HOLY HELL!!! I get it!

There is the high potential that he lied on the last 2 years of his tax return!!!!

He never mentioned this at all!!!!

Any tax experts here who can get the data?

[Wednesdays]

127. Well, the OP said he could defer for at LEAST fifteen years

if so, he could bury it in his 2013 return.

[Ms. Toad]

135. There would likely not be much to see at the end of the CRUT.

There would not be much to see in the final year - although there may be some information that could be pieced together from his last two returns about how large the trust was and how much he took from the trust during its life.

It is intended to shelter large capital gains, and spread income from sales of appreciated property over several years in exchange for what is left at the end of the term going to charity.

My parents used one in a non-traditional way - by donating their active (and greatly appreciated) farmland to a CRUT, and letting the trust sell it, which spreads the capital gains on any portion which they receive from the sale over the life of the trust. Their intent was to use the proceeds of the sale to fund their annual charitable donations without having to first pay taxes on the gains - they were required to take 5% of the value of the trust (I'll have to check that - I know the figure was 5%, but I'm not sure whether it was 5% of the initial value or of the balance each year), but otherwise all of it went to charity. Charitable donations may also be made during the life of the trust (which was my parents' intent, and how they used it)

The norm is to take the maximum amount permitted each year (personally) - spreading your gains out over the years of the trust, then whatever is left in the trust at the end goes to charity. Sounds like there wasn't as much left as expected.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

4. I knew his refusal to release more tax returns had to do with the Mormon Church....

[merrily]

118. Didn't he say he did not want to reveal how much he had donated to the Church?

There has to be something more than this, though.

[Sekhmets Daughter]

131. The LDS Church DEMANDS 10% of the Gross...

I think Romney has been short changing them and now it seems using the Church as a tax dodge.

[theglammistress]

5. This needs to stay bumped to the top with the hurricane stories

[jsmirman]

91. KICK

[factsarenotfair]

6. I don't think we have a word in the English language that conveys the level of corruption

of this man and his family. At least the Bushes didn't involve their church in their Evil Empire.

[Whovian]

8. K&R

[reformist2]

9. My word for it: DESPICABLE.

[femrap]

87. No, that's

just not enough. The longer Mi$$ campaigns, the more I abhor, loathe, detest, and would deeply like to see him suffer immensely.

It's not a good feeling. I have to keep the remote in my hand if I watch TV so I can mute his commercials.

Slimy Sub-Human, Hypocritical, Sociopathic, Despicable, Sadistic, Lying Grifter is coming close, but he's worse than that.

[TBF]

10. WTF? I need to declare myself a church. nt

[OldDem2012]

11. Bump! nt.

[smirkymonkey]

12. K&R!

Keep it kicked!

[AtomicKitten]

13. Rmoney has skated with virtually zero vetting in the press.

[Whisp]

41. let's see some of those asshats on MSNBC try to redeem themselves

they could if they carried this story, repeatedly and over and over every day like they do with more trivial stuff like 'Obama's lost the debate, o noes, the world just ended!' over and over.

Come on Ed, Rachel, and all of you big shots. Show us your stuff.
Prove yourselves with this IMPORTANT story.

I bet we hear crickets.

[AtomicKitten]

73. I'd put my money on Martin Bashir.

I love Rachel but her ass-kissing Mrs. Greenspan makes me want to yak. I was following the storm on MSNBC today and Mrs. Greenspan let Rep. Jason Cheffetz (R-douche) go off on Benghazi spewing his crazyass accusations and then she said, "Okay, thanks" and went to commercial. Aaarrggghhh.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. Keeping it kicked

Incidentally, I would like to see a more thorough explanation of what went on here, as I have no tax expertise at all. Are these tax returns personal to Romney? If so, how were they obtained through the FOIA without a signed release? Was Romney pretending to be a part of the Mormon Church and using his Bishop's status to acquire a tax exemption regarding his personal non-religious earnings? If Romney "deferred" paying taxes for 15 years does this mean he could have control over the trust funds for personal use without paying any taxes ("at the same time he's benefiting&quot ? Will he have to pay the deferred taxes eventually or is he somehow sliming his way around that? Why or how does that mean the LDS Church will receive less than what current law requires?

[BadgerKid]

18. No problem, should the GOP control all three branches.

Their 1%ers society, I guess.

[PatSeg]

40. It has my head spinning

I just can't see how on earth such a thing could have been legal or why the church would agree to it. I guess taxes for the rich are like a completely different language and I don't speak it.

[Igel]

69. It seems to work like this.

Complicated, so I'm more than willing to be corrected. Not just ranted against.

You take a chunk of assets. Presumably very appreciated investments of some sort. You put them in a tax-deferred account. You liquidate them. You've locked in your appreciation, tax-free. But upon your death it goes to the charity. The trust is irrevocable. You can't make it go away.

But you get no present-day tax write-off because you can't touch the cash. Every year you're given a chunk of the money, a percentage set by the terms of the trust. You pay taxes on the cash as it's given to you. But some of the earnings remains in the fund and, it's assumed, will go to the charity. You get a charitable-contribution deduction for that money. Only that money.

There are also gift and estate consequences. Not that they matter here. They're too long-term for 99.999 percent of Americans. (And most of those are over 70, which makes the idea of 'long-term' rather irrelevant.)

The law's changed over the years. It's likely that Romney couldn't have set up the trust with the amount it had (leaving the remainder that it will have) today. But it was, I presume, legal at the time.

It's big news, well, you don't need a scanning electron microscope to see it. Not compressible into a sound-bite. Complicated. And it while it probably saved him from paying something in taxes, "renting" the LDS' tax exemption seems a bit hyperbolic.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

90. Thanks for that

After your explanation, I'm not sure I understand the tax advantage of this type of trust if any withdrawals by Romney are taxed at the regular rate, but then tax law has always mystified me. If you get a charitable contribution deduction equal to the amount of remaining funds in the trust from your general taxable income but then have to pay taxes when and as those funds are withdrawn from the trust, I don't see the purpose of this device, unless different rates are involved. But it would probably take an elementary course in tax law for me to get it.

[mojowork_n]

94. The bottom line is at the end of the article.

It's one more reason to suspect (as Harry Reid speculated), that on balance, over the last ten years,
Romney may have had ZERO tax liability. He's released incomplete returns for a very small part of
that decade. But using strategies likes this, it's a way to pay a nominal amount to the Mormon church,
and significantly reduce tax liability.

The article quotes Harry Reid:

“For all we know Mitt Romney could be one of those who have paid no federal income tax. Thousands of families making more than a million dollars per year pay nothing in federal income tax,” the Nevada Democrat observed. “Is Mitt Romney among those? We’ll never know because he refuses to release his tax returns.”

“We know that Mitt Romney pays a lower tax rate than middle-class families, thanks to a number of things he’s done: Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Islands tax shelters. And we can only imagine what new secrets would be revealed if he showed the American people a dozen years of tax returns like his dad did.”

Reid noted that most of “those people” who Romney talked about “are not avoiding their tax bills using Cayman Islands tax shelters or Swiss Bank accounts like Mitt Romney. Millions of the 47 percent are seniors on Social Security, who don’t have Bain Capital retirement funds or inherited stock to fall back on.”

Also, I'm not following when you say, "...you get no present-day tax write-off because you can't touch the cash."

That's not the point. Churches are not liable for capital gains taxes, so you do get that write-off. Your investment grows tax deferred, and it dribbles back to you in manageable chunks.

At least that's how I read the Bloomberg report.

[Sedona]

16. kick

[Bettie]

17. Wow, the wrongness of that man keeps growing

Or maybe simply becoming more apparent.

[hogwyld]

19. What a sociopathic scumbag!

In the beginning, I didn't like Rmoney to run the country, but wished him no ill will. But the more I learn about him, I am really starting to hate this "man", and hope karma pays this family back in droves!

[VenusRising]

20. Rec'd and shared!

[malaise]

21. So Harry Reid was right

THis is HUGE!!!!!!

[Uncle Joe]

22. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, theglammistress.

[pa28]

23. K&R

[dems_rightnow]

24. Planned Parenthood Charitable Remainder Trust Program

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/donate/bequests-planned-gifts/giving-retirement-funds-insurance-policies-and-bank-or-brokerage-accounts.htm

http://www.plannedparenthood.planyourlegacy.org/GIFTcharituni.php

Many charities are thrilled to be named as the future recipient of your Charitable Reminder Unitrust. They aren't real common, but I've dealt with them on number of occasions. Many large charity organizations will help you set one up.

[maxsolomon]

67. I read the article and I don't think I get how it works.

but, it is/was legal, so even though it's weasel-y, GOP voters will salute him.

remember, if he paid more than he was legally obligated to pay, he wouldn't be qualified to be POTUS.

[Barack_America]

25. Despicable and unacceptable from a candidate for President.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

26. So call Harry Reid a liar now.

[Cosmocat]

58. Harry Reid knew WTF he was talking about!

NM

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

71. I've talked mad shit about Reid in the past. I take it all back. nt

[Canuckistanian]

27. K&R

All those who attacked Harry Reid can now eat crow.

Excellent.

[northoftheborder]

48. Yeah, Reid knew this through his contacts in Mormon church, but probably wouldn't have released

the details even if he knew them.

[Blue Idaho]

28. Shout this from the rooftops!

What a piece of crap this oily little snob is. One more thing - remember the Mormon church had an equal part to play in this also.

Damn them all to hell.

[spanone]

30. K&r...

[bluestate10]

31. Ugh.

"The Romney campaign declined to answer questions about the trust but insisted that it was “operated in accordance with the law"

Those clueless bastards. The practice may be legal, but it smells like a five day old dead fish that has been shit on by a sick moose. Why can't the mainstream media do their fucking jobs and investigate the douche bag tricks that Romney constantly pull?

[heaven05]

32. Our

media and 'real' investigative journalists have been MIA this whole campaign. Free press my ass!

[mrsadm]

65. Stop condemning all the press!

This investigation was done by bloomberg press after all

[heaven05]

128. oh please!

I repeat with our press it is missing in action and really it's more like KIA I like maddow until she shills because POTUS had a bad night, big ed and a couple of other msnbc people, that's it!!!!! Every since 9/11 and Bush's lying us into war using the Pearl Harbor scenario our press has moved steadily to the right. Electronic and print. NYT<NPR used to be my beacons for telling the truth at least some of the time, not anymore. Current TV and a few others, DU being one, are our only hope of getting the 'truth'....Give me a break. Free press my ass!!!!!: If during the Bush presidency anyone said anything disparaging about Bushmonkey and darthcheney the press was all over it and the sucker that said it ended up in gitmo. All of the ugly directed toward our current POTUS has been kept OUT of the MSM because first we think we're fooling the world by omitting the truth about the racism and stupidity of a lot of foolish amerikkkans, yet he makes a misstep and they are all over it saying he's a loser. Wrong! The internet took care of that and so far we still can get the truth. Oh and should I even begin to comment on on how our POTUS and mittsnake have been treated this particular election season? You don't want me to go there. I condemn them with all vituperation and bile I can muster!. facepalm:

[kentuck]

33. Damn him to hell !!

Is there anything he won't do to keep from paying taxes??

[felix_numinous]

34. Kick!!!

[WillyT]

35. HUGE K & R !!!

:kick:

[Unknown Beatle]

36. If Romney wins,

he's stacking his cabinet with ex-bushites. They're all for "more for me and less for thee".

Romney is a criminal on a grand scale and he can't wait to get his greasy mitts (Mitt's mitts) on our tax dollars. Romney is a lair, a tax cheat, and a chicken hawk. There's is nothing too low that he will stoop to in an effort to become president.

I've said before and I'll say it again, Romney is continuing the ideologies of Joseph Goebbels and Rove is his minster of propaganda.

Everything that Romney has said and done is unprecedented in American politics.

[DainBramaged]

37. He ain't winning

[pinto]

38. Apparently a tax scam. Basically little actually goes to a charity.

I'm no tax expert, by far, yet this seems to be a way to hide assets, receive dividends from an "investment" and pay few taxes on the total.

I see that the regs have been tightened. Previous set-ups were exempted.

[kentuck]

39. Where's the frigging IRS when you actually need them?

[LuckyLib]

79. Busy auditing working Americans who earn less than $50,000 per year.

[MynameisBlarney]

42. Hoooly fargin shite!

This is HUUUUUGE!

[AzDar]

43. 'Cause you can't spell Kick without Ick...

[northoftheborder]

44. What a toad, and 1,000,000+ all of the great negative responses above.

Wonder why and how Bloomberg News was able to get this information, and why other news services couldn't have done it sooner. That is probably just ONE of the underhanded ways he got out of paying taxes.

[Whisp]

45. what gall for this man to run for such high office as Pres

when he has sooooo many skeletons rattling around.

evil is nervy and fearless

[willhe]

46. why do people say huge or devastating about anything mitt does

other than little boys coming out and saying mitt sanduskied them or setting puppies on fire will be devastating to the right. and even still they would vote for him instead of the dark skinned guy

[theglammistress]

50. Sadly, this is true

I posted on my FB page and was immediately attacked by Libya truthers. Those nutjobs would vote for a rock if it had an R behind its name.

[MynameisBlarney]

63. I posted in on mine as well...

But have only had positive replies so far.
Maybe all my conservative leaning "friends" booted me, lol

[Lucinda]

47. Bookmarking to dig into this more later. Thanks!

[OverBurn]

49. All churches should have to pay taxes. They have to much political power to be tax exempt .

[RVN VET]

51. Yeah, but it's "immoral" for the Government to fund and operate FEMA?

This guy has it all upside down, and half the Country is standing on their heads agreeing with him.

[Solly Mack]

52. Just call me the Church of Solly.

Ka-ching.

[Autumn]

53. K/R n/t

[kathman-duzi]

54. When Churches do this type of dirty, it is just the right time to start taxing the same.

Politics in the pulpit and tax fraud along with it. This cult needs to begin paying taxes.

[myrna minx]

55. K&R

[kentuck]

57. I had never heard of this before??

Does that mean it is legal? Does every church do this or is this a specialty of the Mormons? A great way to launder your money, under the pretext of charitable giving. I think we need a special prosecutor?

[Richard D]

59. Kicking this

Though I wish there was something else I could kick.

[kentuck]

60. So when they said they were giving all that money to charity?

They were actually giving it to themselves, tax free?

[Autumn]

61. So does the mormon church no longer have a tax exemption?

If so aren't those fuckers double dipping?

[kentuck]

64. I think this was a special exemption just for the Mormon Church?

They are independently wealthy. They do not need help from government. That is why they so despise paying taxes.

I wonder how much Orrin Hatch has paid in taxes over the last 30 years??

[FreeState]

107. The Mormon church had nothing to do with this

The way this once legal scam works the person with the money sets up a fun that gains interest that is set aside to be given when they die. At one point anyone with money could do this and designate it as a future donation to any non-profit group (Be it the Mormon Church or the Girl Scouts). The Mormon church more than likely didn't know this existed - they would not find out until Rmoney dies and what ever he has left in the account is given to the church at that point.

[Kolesar]

136. Our local public radio station, WKSU, promotes these trusts

I got some literature from them a *long* time ago.
The point is that the rules changed and they Rmoney scammed it.

[JPK]

62. Ed Schultz needs to get this! NT

[spanone]

66. kick!!!!!!

[ProudProgressiveNow]

68. K&R. nt

[joeybee12]

70. CNN Spin: Harry Reid Lied!

WQell, he was wrong, Mittens didn't pay taxes for 15 years, not 10.

[renate]

72. I would love to know whether this is something all churches enable

Because if so, it's probably just going to die away unless Romney abused his position as a bishop to line his pockets through this mechanism. (It sounds hella weird to me. How does a person "rent" a church's tax-exempt status?)

The best thing is that this is a new and fresh reason to keep asking for Romney's tax returns.

[mecherosegarden]

74. Kick N/T

[Turborama]

75. K&R any chance of this getting pinned for a while to stop it getting buried? n/t

[Up2Late]

76. Zomnby is such a great guy.

[ecstatic]

77. So he lied about paying 13% in previous years?

I'm really confused. WTF is going on?! Are any major networks covering this story?

[riderinthestorm]

78. Waiting for the DU scolds to come and chastise all of us for being mean to Mitt for his Mormon faith

Can't be poking our noses into his religious bidness doncha know....

[upi402]

80. ^+1,000 and end the damn tax exemptiuons

they're being used by neocon operatives as quasi political & agitprop organs.

[geckosfeet]

81. Well good for him. He found a way to legally cheat his country and the American people.

[patricia92243]

82. Is the reason I am not hearing one word about this on the news is because of the storm? n/t

[ecstatic]

84. He lied and called us small minded for asking about his taxes

This is stunning news. I'm not surprised, but then again, I am kind of surprised at how he has outright lied to us over and over again with almost no consequences.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/us/politics/romney-says-he-paid-at-least-13-percent-in-income-taxes.html

[libdem4life]

93. It hasn't slowed the Benghazi-fest.

[Care Acutely]

83. Kick 1

[Cha]

85. How fucking Small minded is mr mittloafLoad? nm

[spanone]

86. fifteen years of paying no taxes?

[Iwillnevergiveup]

88. This, from the article

seems to be the gist of it....I kind of understand it, but it's no less mind-boggling.

“Like an individual retirement account, the trust allows money to grow tax deferred, while like an annuity it also pays Romney a steady income. After the funder’s death, the trust’s remaining assets go to a designated charity.”

In fact, the amount available to go to the Mormon church has decreased from at least $750,000 in 2001 to $421,203 at the end of 2011 as Romney has collected yearly cash payments from the trust."

[David Zephyr]

89. Churches can rent their tax exemption status? WTF?

Meanwhile the working class and the poor are hanging on by a thread.

Mitt Romney would be in prison if he were a poor man.

[FreeState]

108. They didnt - its a bad headline

the tax code use to allow you to in essence to created a savings account that was supposed to be given to the church at the time of his death, so its charged no taxes, but through a loophole could take money out of the account. The church had nothing to do with that and had no reason to even know such an account existed until he dies. Rmoney could have set this up with any non-profit. No one rented anything. Rmoney basically lied to the government regarding the intentions of the account.

[Segami]

92. FUCKEN TAX EVADING WEASEL!!

[BlueMan Votes]

95. tax laws are written BY the rich, and FOR the rich.

I'm guessing that everything that grift rmoney did here was technically "legal".

[theglammistress]

97. I am weary now

I've been attacked badly over this tonight. Lots of hate flung my way. I want this election to be over. I need Obama to win. That is all.

Watching the hurricane coverage and thinking of my east coast friends.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

98. Well, if hate is being flung your way

it's from haters. The vast majority of people here undoubtedly APPRECIIATE your posting. I know I do.

[reusrename]

96. Has Harry Reid commented?

[aquart]

99. Do I have this correct?

Romney is ripping off the Mormon chirch?

[Petrushka]

100. K & R --- Thanks for the link. --- (eom)

[lonestarnot]

101. Mittwitt taxivader running for a theft.

[Lebam in LA]

102. K&R n/t

[libodem]

103. No Doubt

[renate]

105. two reasons I'm glad this didn't really make the MSM today:

1) The storm is more important... people's lives and all

and

2) It would have gotten absolutely neglected and forgotten amidst all the storm coverage.

I can wait till Friday or so to hear more about this and to see it in the headlines. I think even religious people would be offended by his use of a church's tax loophole to enrich himself.

[liberalla]

120. Yes, I agree. By then, someone should've prepared a good piece/story on this. AND,

hopefully will get David Cay Johnston on as a guest. He's both LDS and a tax/finance wizard. He's been on MSNBC many times. He's the first person I think of when I hear Romney and LDS church short cuts/special privileges that he's benefited from.

[jsr]

106. This should be front page news

[Divine Discontent]

110. oh. my. Good. Lord. God!

says it all, makes total sense why he's hiding it (and now we know what he was hiding!)

I love this post I found on the BEHIND THE VEIL MORMON TEMPLE SECRETS video that everyone's going to youtube to see for themselves of the wild images and practices of the Mormons. It said this ---

When the Buddhist monks start donating $50,000,000 and sending thousands of their followers to change the laws of our country to discriminate against whole groups of the population (the same what the Mormon church has done and continues to do) then I might agree the Buddhist monks should let you see what their doing behind closed doors.



Get it here --->
http://www.zazzle.com/what_is_mitt_hiding_romney_bumper_sticker-128087600293857910?rf=238107662556833486

[blkmusclmachine]

111. Oops.

[agracie]

112. Up ya go... n/t

[Unca Wiggilie]

113. Willard Romney's swinistic greed...

Willard knows and utilizes every possible scam to avoid paying his fair share of taxes.
He is a piss-poor American and deserves to hold no public office!

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a Romney to enter the Kingdom of God." - Mathew 19:24

[dextermorgan]

114. Vietnam exemption and now this

As Martin Sheen said today, "Mitt Romney was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple." I wonder what other ways Mitt's Mormonism has benefitted him besides sparing him from the jungles of Vietnam and enabling him to evade taxes. This is a little off topic but why was Muhammad Ali convicted of draft evasion (which the Supreme Court overturned five years later), stripped of his championship title, and banned from boxing for 3 and a half years during the prime of his career and Mitt was allowed to sunbathe in France without question?

[MaeScott]

116. K and R. nt

[Berlum]

117. The RepubliSuckers better be paying attention

...for if they infect America with The Grifter from Kolob (R), even they -- the horde of Fox-Watching, Rush-Listening Sucker Proles (R) will suffer the consequences along with everyone else.

Wake up RepubliProles. Act like Americans and show some integrity. This Bishop Willard Klown is about to shove a profit-making Kolob-directed Theocracy up your bunghole.

[PA Democrat]

119. This is disgusting. How much more money does that greedy PIG need?

God only knows what else would come to light if the liar released his tax returns.

[riderinthestorm]

122. I know hurricane news will dominate today but this story is too important to drop. Am kick! nt

[spanone]

124. wanna bet the msm completely ignores this story.....1...2...3....

[kentuck]

125. Does anyone really think the Mormon Church is not involved with this scam?

And every church does this?

I think the Church and its members are historically anti-American, especially when it comes to paying taxes. They take care of their own thru their Church.

[cbdo2007]

126. Would have been nice to know this like a month ago.

Probably too little too late. We'll see.

[MrScorpio]

129. Harry Reid was right. nt

[txdemsftw]

130. What a disgusting, vile POS

Why do the rich then complain all the time about taxes if none of the assholes are paying them???!!!!!

Meanwhile, us 'common folk' are paying a huge chunk while the rich and greedy skate on by...BULLSHIT!!!!

(note: not ALL the rich do this I'm sure, but those who do----- BIG FU!!)

[They_Live]

132. Tax the churches.

now.

[47of74]

133. Once again, up yours Mitt Romney

[Johnny2X2X]

134. Disgusting

On a disgusting scum bag would do something like this. I don;t care if it was technically legal. He set up a fake charity that gave nothing to charity and used a church as a cover story for the sole purpose of benefitting himself financially. That is disgusting.

PLASE GET THIS STORY OUT THERE!!!

[Whisp]

137. kick

[Dollface]

138. Mr. President is right, RoMoney doesn't need a new accountant

I hope no one holds this against the CRUTS that were set-up after the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1997. Most CRUTS today are used like the one Ms. Toad describes.

Without knowing the terms of Mr. Romney's CRUT I'm not sure that this is even a story. The article states that the value of the remainder declined from $750,000 to $420,000 but without knowing the terms of the CRUT you can't tell if the decrease was the result of those terms or the result of market decline at the time the remaining assets were distributed to the charity. The charity is ahead $420,000 in any case.

Prior to 1997 there was a way to treat all annuity payments as a return of capital by use of a "deemed sale/forward sale" of the contributed assets. The annuity payments were therefore not subject to tax, a situation that generally only happens today once the capital gain income has all been distributed to the annuitant over the period of the annuity and taxed. I sure wish I could see his tax returns to find out if the transaction was abusive or just good tax planning.

Not that it would influence my vote. I'm just curious as to whether there is anything there. We don't want to have a RoMoney/Libya moment.



I couldn't find a nerd smilie.

[Historic NY]

139. Wonder how LDS would feel if every member did this?? Will the church speak up?

[Iwillnevergiveup]

140. This story

needs to stay kicked....raises many, many questions and puts Mitt the good Mormon on defense.