Romney and taxes

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has tax problems.

First, Romney won’t release any more of his own taxes, other than the 2010 ones he already released (which were not complete) and the 2011 ones when they are done, sometime between now and October 15. I happen to agree with this article: the reason Romney won’t release any more returns, 2009 in particular, is likely because he paid no taxes.

Now, I don’t know if I buy the argument that he hasn’t paid taxes in 10 years – that would be a difficult thing to pull off for anybody, including Romney. But it would be nearly impossible for him to release other years and just skip 2009.

If that weren’t enough, an independent analysis of his tax plan (pdf) says that if implemented, the richest 5% would get tax cuts while everyone else, including me, would pay more.

His rate-cutting plan for individuals would reduce tax collections by about $360 billion in 2015, the study says. To avoid increasing deficits — as Romney has pledged — the plan would have to generate an equivalent amount of revenue by slashing tax breaks for mortgage interest, employer-provided health care, education, medical expenses, state and local taxes, and child care — all breaks that benefit the middle class.

Yes, Romney has tax problems. But like other most other folks with tax problems, he created these himself.

According to this story, Romney will be in Norfolk in about 10 days. Maybe he’ll have resolved his tax problems by then.