Mitt Romney files for extension on 2011 taxes

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Mitt Romney files for extension on 2011 taxes

http://www.boston.com/Boston/politicalintelligence/2012/04/mitt-romney-files-for-extension-taxes/Z6BuT0awZ04eOMBTvzFH1M/index.html

Mitt Romney has filed for an extension on his 2011 taxes, his campaign said Friday.

The Republican candidate for president and former Massachusetts governor estimated his 2011 tax liability at $3.2 million, according to the extension filing. He reported paying more than that, $3.4 million.

Romney plans to file his return sometime in the next six months, and prior to the election will release it, “when there is sufficient information to provide an accurate return,’’ according to a spokeswoman, Andrea Saul.

Romney’s tax bill in 2010 was $3 million, on income of $21.6 million, according to returns he released in January. He paid an effective 13.9 percent tax rate.

[madaboutharry]

1. His tax attorneys have had a lot of time to get it together.

It doesn't make any sense, imo.

[PA Democrat]

16. But Mitt's a regular guy. I'll bet he just doesn't have the time to stand in line

at H & R Block.

What the deadline for the automatic extension? Last time I checked it was Oct. 15.

[deacon]

29. Right. It shows how incompetent he is. n/t

[Dollface]

42. I'm not a fan of the guy but this is a non-issue until the October deadline passes. Extensions are

as common as dirt.

There's no way all of the information for his return could be pulled together by April 17.

Much of it comes from 3rd party sources. I say this as I take a break from preparing my extension because of missing information. And I'm a peasant.

Besides, there are plenty of real issues to attack him on.

[sadbear]

2. There's only one way to interpret this

[alphafemale]

4. Don't expect it to be released before the election.

Of course that raises the question of "what is he hiding?"

[onenote]

11. I'd be willing to be it will be released before the election.

The IRS has changed its rules and only one six-month extension until October 15 (granted automatically) is available. There is no way Romney is going to be in a position, three weeks before election day, of being labelled a tax scofflaw by not filng.

I'm totally not surprised that he asked for an extension. I know he used the automatic extension in 2011, filing on October 15 of that year. I supsect he's done the same thing for many years.

To be honest, he's hardly alone in taking advantage of the automatic extension. There are any number of reasons that folks do that. I've done it for the past several years myself because of various scheduling conflicts.

In Romney's case, my guess is that he'll file sooner than October 15, choosing a moment when the story will most likely be buried -- Labor Day weekend, or some slow time during the summer months.

[davidpdx]

35. The Summer Olympics...

would be the perfect time for that. During the two weeks of the Olympics coverage of the political campaign almost draws to a screeching stop.

The first night there is suppose to be some big thing with the guy who plays James Bond making an appearance. Drop it the next morning and people won't be paying attention.

[TBF]

39. I agree - he'll either bury it over Labor Day weekend

or release it Oct. 15 - then folks won't have as much time to go over the details. If he releases now they have 6 months to tear it apart.

[karynnj]

40. I expect that it will - and it will show nothing that we don't already no - this is a trap

Why a trap? Imagine that Democrats make an issue that he has not yet filed. Then he files - and the story is there was nothing to what the mean Democrats said. Shades of the Palin emails - she knew what was there and was smart enough not to use her official email for anything obviously wrong.

It is actually interesting how they use the same tricks. The "Ann didn't work" is this year's equivalent to "Laura not working" - a reasonable difference to cite between her and Teresa, as Teresa pointed out that much of her identity came from what she did running a large foundation - while Laura worked until she was 27. This is a cultures war theme. Here, we are in better shape as Rosen's connection to Obama is on the level of Limbaugh's to Romney.

[Bruce Wayne]

3. I think this tells us something about what kind of president he'd be

Shit, with all his money and he's only paying 14%? I wish I could get away with 14%. But when we do the taxes over here at stately Wayne Manor, we remember about all those cops and troops that protect us, and the highways & bridges that make our trips into downtown Gotham so safe and efficient, and the food inspectors that keep us healthy. Once you get down to it, paying a reasonable tax rate is just another way of ensuring that the good life we enjoy in America will stay the same for future generations of acrobats I might adopt.

[stevenleser]

5. WTF is this? With his money, he could hire all of H&R Block to do his taxes.

This is BS!

[Skinner]

6. And announces it on Friday afternoon.

Can you say "news dump"?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. Yep, MSNBC just brought that up

Of course, we're supposed to be too stupid to connect those dots.

[tallahasseedem]

9. He is most definitely hiding something...

He is so shifty, it's ridiculous.

[pinboy3niner]

24. Just when everybody's attention is focused on...

...the Friday Afternoon Challenge.

[Politicalboi]

8. This is good

Let him have to answer this question till he finally shows his taxes.

[madaboutharry]

10. Maybe Rachel chould have a little counter in the corner of the screen

during her show which indicates how many days pass without him filing or releasing past filings.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

12. When is he going to produce his returns for PREVIOUS years?????

I have a feeling that Romney's campaign would be dead in the water if that happened. There might even be a prosecution involved. People cannot let him slither and slime his way out of producing previous returns that Obama, other candidates, and even his father produced.

[Neue Regel]

13. Filing for an extension is really common, especially with non-wage earners

I wouldn't read too much into it. All you have to do is mail the IRS one simple form with your name and address and you automatically get a 6 month extension, making the tax return and any required payment due on October 15 instead of April 15. It will be interesting to see when he actually files his taxes though. It would seem less advantageous to him to have his tax returns released 3 weeks before the election, bringing them front and center just before people begin voting. I'm guessing he files his return and releases a copy around a holiday in the hope that more people aren't paying attention, say around Memorial Day or 4th of July.

[ctaylors6]

17. I agree

For such complicated tax returns, it is not uncommon at all to file for an extension. Frankly after looking at the returns from 2010 on his website, I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't file an extension for 2011. For 2011, they paid slightly more than what's estimated as due, which is also what I'd expect.
(FWIW, I'm a semi-retired tax attorney.)

[onenote]

19. Correct. He also used the automatic extension last year.

He filed his 2010 forms on October 15, 2011. While he could wait until October again this year, I doubt he will because leaving the issue out to fester would be worse than filing. I don't read a lot into the extension.

Admission: I too have taken advantage of the automatic extension for the past several years.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. This is not a good move for a guy who...

...has been hit over and over again with a perceived "lack of transparency" when it comes to his finances.

Romney is smart enough to know that his $3/4 billion net worth is not a selling point to voters who see him as out of touch with the challenges faced by the average working man and woman.

The fact that he filed for an extension that was announced on a Friday news dump day makes it impossible for me to not read too much into it.

[ctaylors6]

20. the in-process return (104 pages) for 2011 is on his website

It's not final of course.

[KharmaTrain]

30. Perception Is Reality...

This is Millard's own "October surprise" in the making. Yes, many who have a large amount of investments have complex returns and thus file for extensions. I would imagine the Rmoney returns are a roller coaster ride of accounts, stock sales, deductions and so on.

But this is no ordinary tax year for Mittens. He's known for the past 5 years he'd be running for President and his taxes would be called into account. His lack of transperancy on this issue can, and I expect, will be used to label him as a sleezy elitist. And I suspect there's good reason for it. Willard's past and present connections with Bain are very problematic for him...as well as the way he gamed the system to pay far less than the 15% he claims (more like 0).

We've seen him stumble over and over on this issue...and looks like he's gonna help us out by letting this issue drag into the fall campaign and he won't be able to hide under his wife's skirt to avoid this.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

14. So busy trying to cover his tracks

http://www.realchange.org/romney.htm

[sulphurdunn]

21. Rich means not knowing

how much money you really have.

[chollybocker]

22. Presumably, he owes $$$ to the IRS.

A filing extension provides him with a low interest/no penalty grace period.

If the value of Rmoney's portfolio rises next week, his check to the IRS will be proportionally less burdensome to him; i.e., he will have made money on the money owed to the IRS.

Rethuglican "debt" arguments end here.

[ecstatic]

23. If he can't file his taxes on time, how will he handle the nation's finances?

[chollybocker]

25. The Obamas released their 2011 tax returns today.

I guess managing loopholes, shelters and off-shore accounts is more complicated than being POTUS....

I wonder if Ann Rmoney was included on the payroll as an advisor?

[DallasNE]

26. Especially Getting A Budget To Congress

But this also raises the question; how often does Romney file for an extension. It also sounds like his effective tax rate will be well below the estimate on the preliminary tax return since he is expecting a $200,000 refund. It also means that there is a significant difference between that preliminary return and what his final return will look like. So far Romney has only released one year of actual tax returns and it had an effective tax rate of 13.9%. So, what is Romney hiding? What ever happened to transparency. If this is how he is with his personal business how much lack of transparency will there be in a Romney administration. It sounds like he is running a campaign of "trust me" and how can we trust him when he likes to do everything in secret.

I believe this extension is until August 15th and he could file for a 2nd extension until October 15th.

[66 dmhlt]

27. It just delays the Bigger Question that ...

Romney provided 23 years - 23!! - worth of income tax returns to McCain in his effort to become McCain’s Vice-President.

So why won’t he treat US, the American people, with the same level of respect in his effort to become our President and provide US with the same 23 years of returns?

Hell, his own Dad released twelve years of returns. What's he hiding?

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-romney-delays-filing-2011-taxes-expects-to-pay-32-million-20120413,0,4296566.story

[Mopar151]

28. And then there is the Other Question

This guy has been running for president for at least 8 years. Should'nt his boys have been sanitizing his finances for at least that long?
The offshore accounts thing alone looks bad, and did he think we, the 99%, would'nt figure out the tax rate thing by now?

[ecstatic]

31. He didn't foresee the 99% uprising

He made a number of miscalculations.

[Evasporque]

32. It takes time to pay less than 15%....

I filed an extension and my effective rate is going to be around 28%....

I have to pay in and I am not wealthy by any means.

[Doctor_J]

33. $22 million despite not working a single day.

13%. Off-shore account, $21,600,000 despite doing nothing except campaigning for president. Repeat after me: Elitist thief

[James48]

34. Mitt has six houses to deduct

wonder how that home mortgage deduction works for him...

http://www.zillow.com/blog/2012-01-24/mitt-romneys-6-homes/

[WCGreen]

36. Many of the investments that Romney may have invested in have deadlines the same

day as the Individual 1040's,

Corporation, all forms, are due on March 15th.

But partnerships, trusts and information carried on Limited Liability Entities all don't have to be filed until the 15th of April, same as the individual.

I have clients that have diverse investments who have either do a non completed tax return and then add the returns that come in after the April 15th deadline.

So having a complicated investment portfolio would almost have to file an extension in order to file a clean return.

[RayStar]

37. Shameful

If Romney gets away with a delay, it say much about his decency or lack of respect for his supporters and the American people.

[Elliemama]

38. Buying time

Mittens is simply buying time with this extension.

With all of the financial boys he pays, should he not be able to file on time?

Buying time. This is the GOP's hero!

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

41. There's alot of legitimate reasons to file for extensions... I've filed them in the past.

I'll likely file some in the future too. Sometimes it has nothing to do with dragging your feet, not having hte money or not getting them done soon enough. We won't know why he requested an extension for sure until he does file the actual tax return. I don't see why this is even news.

[uponit7771]

43. RMoney files a six month extension on taxes!!!?! LOFL!!