Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: "Name a Country Where 70% Tax Worked" [View all]Mariana
(14,854 posts)48. Romney intentionally overpaid tax that year
to try to fool people into thinking he pays more tax than he actually does. He donated a bunch of money to charity, and then he didn't claim it all so he could manipulate his effective tax rate to be what he thought would be politically acceptable.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/romney-overpaid-his-taxes-because-hes-running-office-petes-sake-flna1B6038308
Mitt and Ann Romney also donated about $4 million -- about 30 percent of their income -- to charity in 2011, though they only claimed a deduction of about $2.25 million from those donations, according to the campaign.
That means the Romneys voluntarily paid a higher tax rate than they were legally required. The full documents, which only cover the 2011 tax returns, will be posted online at 3 p.m. today.
This can get a little complicated, so let's be clear about the details. If Romney had simply filed normally, taking all of the deductions to which he's legally entitled, he would have paid an effective tax rate of about 9 percent.
But that would have proven politically problematic, so purely for show, he deliberately overpaid the IRS, in order to increase his tax rate, on purpose. Romney was in the rather extraordinary position of selecting his own preferred tax rate, and then working backwards from there.
That means the Romneys voluntarily paid a higher tax rate than they were legally required. The full documents, which only cover the 2011 tax returns, will be posted online at 3 p.m. today.
This can get a little complicated, so let's be clear about the details. If Romney had simply filed normally, taking all of the deductions to which he's legally entitled, he would have paid an effective tax rate of about 9 percent.
But that would have proven politically problematic, so purely for show, he deliberately overpaid the IRS, in order to increase his tax rate, on purpose. Romney was in the rather extraordinary position of selecting his own preferred tax rate, and then working backwards from there.
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
63 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
"Marginal" wasn't mentioned originally (when Dell was told at once the US had the rate up to 1980)
muriel_volestrangler
Mar 2021
#31
We worship rich guys and pretend they know about things they have no idea about
Johnny2X2X
Mar 2021
#47
Your 2016 stats were rendered irrelevant by Trump's 2017 tax cuts for the rich.
SunSeeker
Mar 2021
#53
Yup. Payroll taxes, sales taxes, utility/use fees, etc. are how the poor get soaked with taxes.
SunSeeker
Mar 2021
#51
So tax capital gains at the same marginal rates that person would have for income
muriel_volestrangler
Mar 2021
#35
The following companies had effective rates of 0% or less, according to the report:
UpInArms
Mar 2021
#30
It depends on how one defines "worked." And Republicans have a different definition.
Beartracks
Mar 2021
#63