Is Romney not releasing his tax returns because he is afraid that the IRS will see them?

Seeing that they are tax returns I think that the IRS already has them.

I am pretty sure nothing illegal is them. But cheating on my girlfriend isn’t illegal either but I sure as hell am not going to provide documentation of it to her.

@johnpowell So you figure he doesn’t want the IRS to see them and that is why he is keeping them a secret? I knew it!

It’s a distraction. Birthers, ACORN, affairs, IRS tax returns, who would be better to have a beer with – it’s all horseshit. It’s pretty clear from what Romney is saying what he intends to do. And we know what party he’s running for. Either you think he will be a disaster for the country or you are rich enough not to care think he’ll be great. This is one of the reasons I don’t watch TV.

I’m not saying that at all. I doubt he has done anything illegal so the IRS can’t do anything. I’m saying if something comes out like he didn’t pay taxes in 2005 he will have problems with voters.

@tom_g It’s not a distraction. He’e merely being asked to provide the same documents asked of every serious contender for POTUS. George Romney, Mitt’s father, made 12 years of his returns available when he ran for president. George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and John Kerry released multiple returns.

Prior to Barack Obama, no other president had been asked to provide a birth certificate. ACORN received significant negative publicity in the wake of the 2009 production and publication of videos, which were later found to be partially falsified and selectively edited by two conservative activists. Those were distractions.

In comparison, Romney knew that he would be asked to provide several years of tax returns when he decided to run. Hell, in in 1994, Romney vigorously called for then Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) to release his tax returns, in order to prove that he had “nothing to hide”:

With the tax-filing deadline looming, Republican Senate candidate Mitt Romney yesterday challenged Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to disclose his state and federal taxes to prove he has ‘nothing to hide,’ but another GOP rival, John R. Lakian, called Romney’s move ‘bush league’ ‘It’s time the biggest-taxing senator in Washington shows the people of Massachusetts how much he pays in taxes,” said Romney, a business consultant from Belmont. Romney said he would disclose his own state and federal taxes for the last three years ‘on the very day that Kennedy turns over his taxes for public scrutiny.’
[Boston Globe, 4/19/94]

@GladysMensch – Ok, so you don’t find it to be a distraction. Specifically, what info could come from these tax returns that would have an effect on your opinion of him? Would it cause you to decide to vote for or decide against voting for him? If so, I would argue that we’re focused on the wrong things. Hence, the distraction. If not, then it’s…well..a distraction.

This is a silly question and you know it @josie. When your tax returns are are filed, you file them with the IRS.

It’s what he hasn’t claimed on them that’s up for question. I imagine they’re starting to do some serious investigating.

As for why he hasn’t released them to the public…the average American, even the more well-off Americans, would probably be sickened by the amount of money he has made, and how most of it wasn’t even taxed. Like @johnpowell said…it could come out that at one point he didn’t pay a cent in taxes, or got a refund somewhere along the way.

@tom_g It’s the fact that he is refusing to disclose them that causes me to mistrust him. It was never an issue with a potential POTUS until now…makes me wonder what is wrong with him.

@Dutchess_III: “It’s the fact that he is refusing to disclose them that causes me to mistrust him.”

My uncle said the same thing about the birth certificate thing and Obama.

Listen – I’m not defending Romney. As president, he’d take a complete shit on everything I hold to be important. But here’s the thing…He’s telling us that he would take a wet shit on anything that is good. We don’t have to harp on some tax return crap and get all excited hoping that something awful will turn up. We already have awful – it’s Mitt.

This is a ridiculous question, Josie. You know, as well as we know, that the IRS already has Romney’s tax information/returns. He is refusing to release his tax returns because they would confirm his vast wealth & the fact that he paid so little in taxes & reveal that he has no knowledge what-so-ever of the reality that the average American lives with on a daily basis.

@tom_g .. I kind of lost you. Obama released his birth certificate six ways from Sunday. There is a huge difference between a requesting a proof of a birth certificate & college transcripts, and requesting someone’s tax return which they (apparently) flat refuse to release

But, I get you. And I’m glad you aren’t fogged up with mindless hatred. You may not like Obama, but he’s miles above Romney. He’s rich too, don’t forget.

@josie I’m sure that you are a very good person. Your confusion seems to know no bounds. Romney is not afraid of the IRS. The IRS has ALL of Romney’s tax returns. Romney has the right to withhold his private information from the public just like everyone else.

@gondwanalon :: And people have the right to sit at home and watch TV instead of voting for him.

Sometimes I try to think like Glenn Beck. I’m not saying Romney is using loopholes to avoid taxes but until he proves otherwise I am going to assume he is.

What’s the delay? All candidates release their tax returns. The only possible reason for delay is that they think the returns might harm his candidacy. Their calculation is whether it would hurt more to never release them, or if they decide to release them, when would be a good time, like when no one is paying attention—say in August, or something.

@wundayatta said it right

Like his wife said, he has divulged enough info to “those people” they don’t need to know any more.

He doesn’t want us mere mortals to see how the other half lives would be my guess.

I wonder if there would be any surprises in the companies he has invested in. Perhaps companies that are giving his campaign significant amounts of money?

Romney has done what any other elite member of society would do. He released the minimum amount of information in an attempt to satisfy the proletariat underlings. He believes that he and his class is entitled to run this country unencumbered by rules and regulations that interfere with his business.

This is the tip of the elitist iceberg. Once they have a firm hold of the executive and judicial branch, they will consolidate the legislative hold. He has two main types of supporters, the elite that understand that this is the long awaited final grab for power and the ignorant who assume that they will get a piece of the economic pie once their party controls the government. The ignorant will be sorely disappointed if their side wins and rebellious if they loose. Under no circumstance will the poor supporters of the egalitarian party be satisfied because they live and vote in an illusion.

@johnpowell The U.S. Federal Tax code is nearly 74 thousand pages long and growing. It is loaded with so called tax loopholes and all of them are legal to use if you qualify to take advantage of them.

FYI: It is perfectly legal to avoid taxes. It is illegal to evade paying taxes.

Glenn Beck is a big sensationalizing blow-hard. It is really not a good idea to not try to think like him.

I got it now. He filed for amnesty in 2009. He was illegally hiding money in Switzerland. The Swiss banks decided, at some point, they were going to release everyone’s records. The government offered amnesty for those who came forward and confessed. That’s what happened. He’s still a criminal. He just can’t be legally prosecuted for it.

It is speculation but that’s exactly the kind of thing that snake would do, hide money so he doesn’t have to pay taxes on it. Oh. Wait. There are some who thinks that makes him smart. He’s nothing but a common criminal with the money to get away with it.

@gondwanalon :: I’m not sure how many times I have to say that I do not think he did anything illegal. I think he has taken advantage of things that most people can’t.

@Dutchess_III and @johnpowell No harm, no foul.

But anyway…Isn’t Obama’s record for the last 3½ + years just fabulous!!!

Yes, it is, @gondwanalon.
@johnpowell Yes, he DID do something illegal. If the speculation is true, he illegally hid money in a Swiss bank account.

@gondwanalon :: The first election I voted in was 2000. BTW, I voted for Nader. So I have been politically aware for a while. And compared to Bush I would say Obama is doing a great job.

@Dutchess_III and @johnpowell Thank you for your genuine honesty.