I agree with Isaac on this - it could be that there is nothing major, but might be something that would *gasp* make him look like he favored a democrat "cause." Or there could be perfectly legal things that people like me don't understand, that we then spend the rest of the election cycle squabbling over, like "Look at all that offshore money he has!"
Possibly, I've also seen it suggested that he wants to keep his level of tithing covered up - seeing he's given millions to the Mormon Church might remind people of where his beliefs lie and put off some on the religious right from voting (or on one of the more out there suggestions, that he's worried the Mormons would see he's not being paying as much as he should. If it is something like that then it is a bit tough for him - it is a private matter, in my view, with things like that.
As for the off shore money, I don't see why people shouldn't know how much he squirrels away abroad to avoid taxes in the US - if he thinks avoiding paying millions in tax and depositing money that he could have invested in US firms, which would have a knock on benefit for the US economy, is the right thing to do then he should say so, not hide it. He's offered up tax plans as part of the election platform, so it seems perfectly fair and reasonable to me to know what his real views on tax are.
I would agree with you in general, but, you know, this isn't just another guy. Do you think that in the current situation, there aren't people looking into these things? Especially given the hesitation over sharing them publicly?
The flip side though is that if it came out that the IRS are going through his taxes with a fine tooth comb then it would be damaging to the IRS and Obama - the fact he is running for President might well make them very wary of going after him. His tax returns are also likely to be massively complex - hard to justify trawling through them in detail, given they don't even know what they are looking for.
Who knows, maybe he has struck a deal with the IRS to pay of back taxes he owed already and doesn't want it to come out that he was under paying (either deliberately or in error)?
*MySmiley*
Robert Graves "There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either."
Henning Mankell "We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win"
Robert Graves "There is no money in poetry, but then there is no poetry in money, either."
Henning Mankell "We must defend the open society, because if we start locking our doors, if we let fear decide, the person who committed the act of terror will win"
what does it mean to "pay no federal income tax"?
18/09/2012 06:30:28 PM
- 1036 Views
Wrong
18/09/2012 06:37:07 PM
- 597 Views
Additional categories
18/09/2012 06:51:46 PM
- 700 Views
SS income is very much taxed, my friend
18/09/2012 06:59:28 PM
- 575 Views
Is that true?
18/09/2012 06:54:33 PM
- 614 Views
No, it's not. See my post (you should really have read it first
) *NM*
18/09/2012 07:00:07 PM
- 240 Views

Looking at that chart you linked, I have some questions.
18/09/2012 07:05:24 PM
- 560 Views
I think the reasoning is that since they go to entitlement programs, it's not entirely a tax.
18/09/2012 10:55:12 PM
- 524 Views
Does that mean the correct number is that 27.6%?
18/09/2012 07:17:46 PM
- 570 Views
That is correct - some folks have such negative income taxes, it offsets payroll as well.
19/09/2012 05:28:07 AM
- 574 Views
If it helps, here's a graph of effective federal tax rate by quintile, all taxes (data from 2007)
19/09/2012 08:30:37 AM
- 792 Views
While we're talking about taxes, am I the only one who doesn't give a rat's ass about Romney's?
18/09/2012 10:37:12 PM
- 550 Views
That sort of thing does matter to me
18/09/2012 10:48:30 PM
- 527 Views
Ah, yeah, not so much for me.
18/09/2012 11:16:56 PM
- 495 Views
I am a BIT curious whether he took the IRS amnesty for tax dodging in 2009.
18/09/2012 11:32:31 PM
- 472 Views
As an outside observer ...
19/09/2012 01:28:13 AM
- 569 Views
Re: As an outside observer ...
19/09/2012 04:45:11 AM
- 523 Views
the question of legality has already been covered by the offshore accounts though....
19/09/2012 05:44:28 AM
- 547 Views
Eh, those already exist, if people bothered to look
19/09/2012 08:08:35 AM
- 723 Views
Those are toothless examples, no bite to them and old news so no shock value aspect
19/09/2012 08:44:01 AM
- 485 Views
The stat is valid, because of tax credits the GOP created/expanded for the overtaxed middle class.
18/09/2012 11:22:13 PM
- 552 Views
I think you got it wrong:
19/09/2012 01:52:30 AM
- 514 Views
+1 - you are correct, moondog screwed the pooch with this post. *NM*
19/09/2012 05:18:19 AM
- 226 Views
Washington Post similar to Anonymous', but shows how many people get each credit.
19/09/2012 06:45:08 PM
- 603 Views