Today Romney claimed that he didn't save any taxes by keeping hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign tax havens.
http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2012/08/romney-claims-to-have-gained-no-tax.html
What is clear from looking at his tax returns is that a big motivator for setting up his "blind trusts" is to shield money to pass on to the Romney children.
"Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, have used sophisticated estate- planning techniques for more than a decade to minimize taxes and amass at least $100 million for their family outside of their estate."
"The couple created trusts as early as 1995, when Romney was building wealth as chief executive officer of Bain Capital LLC. They packed one for their children with investments that stood to appreciate and set up another for charity that provides a tax deduction and income. The candidate's retirement account, valued at as much as $87.4 million, also may benefit his heirs for decades."
http://newyork.newsday.com/business/mitt-romney-tax-returns-show-strategies-for-moving-money-to-kids-1.3928955
One thing that Harry Reid may be right about-despite all the talk that he had made "wild" claims- is that Romney is worth considerably more when you factor in the blind trusts than even his $250 million that his-incomplete-2010 return indicated.
"It's beneficial for your kids and grandkids to push the money downstream," said David Scott Sloan, chairman of the national private wealth services estate-planning practice at the law firm Holland & Knight LLP in Boston. "The Romneys appear to be doing things that are similar to what other high-net-worth families do." Wealthy couples use strategies allowed under the federal tax system such as moving assets to trusts so that the money may be subject to little or no gift and estate taxes, Sloan said. The Romney family trust is worth $100 million, according to the campaign. That money isn't included in the couple's personal fortune, which the campaign estimates at as much as $250 million."
http://newyork.newsday.com/business/mitt-romney-tax-returns-show-strategies-for-moving-money-to-kids-1.3928955
While Romney's apologists-many of them in the mainstream David Brooks' press-will cluck cluck the suggestion that Romney selects his policies based on those that help him personally, you can't help but notice that his and Ryan's plan for inheritance taxes, etc. all benefit him greatly, whereas the President's plan would raise his taxes:
"Estate Tax The Romneys would pay higher taxes under the estate-tax proposals of President Barack Obama and would pay less under Romney's plan. Obama has proposed increasing the estate tax from current levels and curtailing wealth-transfer strategies. The Republican presidential candidate wants to eliminate the estate tax, which currently applies a top rate of 35 percent and a $10.24 million exemption on a married couple's combined assets."
"A repeal of the levy may save the Romneys about $70 million in federal estate taxes after they both die, assuming the couple's combined taxable estate was $200 million after deductions for items such as administrative expenses and charitable contributions. Compared with today's rates, Obama's proposal may cost the Romneys an additional $20 million.
"At the core of the Romneys' estate-planning strategy is a family trust. The technique pushes money out of their taxable estate and lets the couple pay the annual taxes on their family's investment income."
The whole thing makes for great reading. Check it out if you want some good info on the real curve of Romney's tax returns. As is obvious from the most cursory look at Romney's financial info, he-or his blind trust as he keeps trying to blame it an absolve himself of responsibility-uses every trick in the book to minimize his tax burden.
Nothing could be less true-even for Mitt Romney-than his claim linked above where he claimed that he didn't gain any tax benefit from leaving his money in the Cayman's-among other places like Switzerland, and Bermuda.
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