Tax Lawyers Question Gingrich's 2010 Return (says avoided medicare tax) [View all]

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By Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY

GOP presidential contender Newt Gingrich used a popular tax strategy that enabled him to avoid paying Medicare tax on most of his 2010 income, three tax lawyers told USA TODAY.

After reviewing the 2010 federal tax return Gingrich released last week, the tax experts said he may have left himself open to an IRS challenge.

"That could be the type of return that would be flagged for an audit," said one of the experts, Robert McKenzie, a tax attorney at the Arnstein & Lehr law firm in Chicago.

The experts, who also included Bryan Skarlatos, of Kostelanetz & Fink in New York, and Martin Press, of the Gunster law firm in Fort Lauderdale, said it would be difficult to pinpoint the amount of Medicare tax that went unpaid without additional financial detail. But they estimated it could amount to tens of thousands of dollars.

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