Romney Will Release 2010 Tax Returns And 2011 Estimates On Tuesday

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Bending, halfway, to political pressures, Mitt Romney pledged on Sunday to release his most recent year of tax returns this coming week as well as an estimate for his upcoming filings.

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," the former Massachusetts governor said his campaign would be putting out tax information for 2010 and projections for 2011 on Tuesday.

"I was planning on releasing them in April when they have been released by other candidates in the past," Romney said to the show's host, Chris Wallace. "But given all the attention that has been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in these last couple weeks -- Look, I'm going to make it very clear to you right now, Chris. I will release my tax returns for 2010, which is the last returns that were completed. I will do that on Tuesday this week."

"I will also release at the same time an estimate for 2011 tax returns," Romney added. "So you will have two years; people will have a good look at it. We will put it on the website. And you can go through the pages. I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues in the campaign."

This is undoubtedly a big shift for Romney, who just one month ago was saying he doubted that he would make any tax returns public, only to then say he'd wait until April to do so. But it's also a piecemeal bit of disclosure. One year of tax returns might match the amount that Newt Gingrich has offered (and it bests what Rep. Ron Paul has done) but it falls well short of the standard set by Romney's father when he launched his presidential bid. And it certainly doesn't give voters the type of comprehensive insight into how he made his money and the rate he paid for taxes during his post-Bain Capital career.

"Well that would be more than any other Republican candidate," Romney said, when pressed to disclose more than one year's worth. "I'm not going to go back to my dad's years. That was even before the Internet. We will be putting our returns on the Internet. People can look through them. It will provide, I think, plenty of information for people to understand that the sources of my income are exactly as described in the financial disclosure statements that we put out several months ago."

Appearing on "Meet the Press" on Sunday morning, Newt Gingrich reacted in real time: "I think that’s a very good thing he is doing and I commend him for it," he said, according to a tweet from the show's executive producer, Betsy Fischer.

Comments

[TCPITS]

06:54 PM on 01/24/2012

Well now we know where he stands. Millions for his Mormon Church but not one extra red cent for his country.

[Rajani Kanukollu]

07:08 AM on 01/24/2012

Interesting that the richest of the rich pay 13 to 15% on average in taxes while we middleclass worker bees sweat through dreary work days, to make both ends meet or rather to somehow leave behind a better world for our children. How can I trust a President (if he were to become one), who cares for his personal gain MORE than the country? Let me explain. If every one of us wrere priviy to these tax loopholes, what a happy world of people this would be. But what would the federal government be left with? So those who lead, need to lead by example. I KNOW I am uncomfortable even considering Romney anymore!

[l78lancer]

04:04 AM on 01/24/2012

This is capitulation at its finest. Now that he has committed to some there's no way he will be able to get out of giving up additional years.

Romney let Newt bully him on this one. Another sign that he doesn't have the tact, savvy or finesse to be president.

[Midnight Cry]

06:51 PM on 01/23/2012

Let's move from Mitt's tax records to BHO's lost years? Any ideas on his college transcripts and why they are sealed?

[Amalasan]

09:16 PM on 01/23/2012

Obama released his tax records long long time then it was his birth cert., he released one....oh no not good enough..finally released the long form so the children would stop bawling. Now onto the college records...if he releases that (and seriously they have no freaking relevancy to anything) then you types will go on to something like the records of how many speeding tickets he ever got or records on how many times he bought a six pack.
Seriously you types j u s t d o n t g e t i t

[TCPITS]

06:58 PM on 01/24/2012

Right next to the hanger where "they" staged the moon walk, in Roswell, New Mexico.

[benjamin1943]

12:53 PM on 01/23/2012

The fact that Romney is so reluctant to share his past twelve years of income tax
returns should make anyone suspicious that there is something in them that he wants
to hide. It isn't a matter of how much money he has made or how much taxes he paid.
There is probably something about where his money is invested or other information
on schedules that he wants to hide. That information can affect how he governs as
President. For instance, V.P. Cheney had long time business relationships with the
companies that he made rich at our expense during the wars in Iraq and Afganistan.
To what extent did Cheney's ties with those companies influence his and Bushes
decision to get us into an ill-advised and very costly war which is one of the
reasons we are in the debt we are in today.

[monkeeme]

11:07 AM on 01/23/2012

Stop the Overspending!!

No, I don’t just mean by state and federal governments or even the federal deficit.

I mean on the elections!

How, you ask?

Change the way political ads are done. The cost of them is way over the top, 3 million or more!! And let’s face it to spread such negativity and try to “program” us to dislike or hate someone else…shame on it!

My suggestions instead of having negative or slandering political TV ads:

1) donate the money to medical and educational benefits for low-income and elderly folks;

2) give the money to help lower state or federal debts;

3) and, the major guiding rule during an election is that a candidate may not tattle-tale on
anyone else but themselves!

[Amalasan]

09:18 PM on 01/23/2012

Would be nice but would *never* happen in this country....ever.

[sabrinalilypup]

11:00 AM on 01/23/2012

Hey! MATT ROMNEY.....so your Dad, MITT ROMNEY will release his Tax Return afterall.....you must have read or you were made aware that President Obama already release copy of his BIRTH CERTIFICATE. TIT FOR TAT....DAMASS

[deltabluuz]

10:50 AM on 01/23/2012

I'm not a Romney fan but this is actually a matter betwen him and the IRS not something for the media and the American public to misinterpret which they are already doing before it has even been released. If something illegal is there it is the the business of the IRS and they don't seem to be concerned. As far as releasing them being something that is always done by candidates etc., where are Obama's for the last 12 years.

[Lobo912]

12:16 PM on 01/23/2012

Except Romney has been portraying himself as an ordinary working stiff, he even included himself in the 99%, when the fact is he's not just in the top 1%, but in a more exclusive group than that. He says he's been worried about getting fired. That may be true, but he's never had to be worried about losing his only home because of it. His tax returns will prove exactly where he stands in relation to the working class.

[tweasel2]

10:47 AM on 01/23/2012

According to statistics, the top 400,000 richest people in this country didn't pay any federal income tax for the year 2009. I believe Mitt Romney is among this elite class, & therefore will be very reluctant to release his returns for that year.

[mcgowann]

11:36 AM on 01/23/2012

1 percent of households with the highest incomes pay 38 percent of federal income taxes. The top 10 percent pay 70 percent of federal income taxes. Meanwhile, 46 percent of households pay no federal income tax at all.

[Lobo912]

12:19 PM on 01/23/2012

The top 1 percent have 80% of the income. The 46 percent who pay no income tax are legally excluded from paying taxes because they don't make enough money to be taxed. If you're going to make claims, show the whole picture.

[tweasel2]

03:43 PM on 01/23/2012

Anyone who has the slightest clue knows when talking about tax brackets, & what people actually pay when filing their returns is quite different. In 2009 the most anyone in the top 1% payed was 17% due to a special tax break passed by the Bush administration. The top 400,000 of that 1 percent didn't pay any federal tax on their income.

[lobwedge39]

10:29 AM on 01/23/2012

You little rascal, Mitt. You were hoping to delay this until after the primaries, weren't you?

[manmi1]

10:20 AM on 01/23/2012

Sadly, you will never find a real person running for president because they couldn't afford it. What this country needs, and will never get, is a true middle-class president. Someone who understands what it's like, not someone who "feels your pain."

[manmi1]

10:19 AM on 01/23/2012

I think each candidate should have to show their tax returns... if they're running for a vote and the highest office in the land, it would be nice to see how honest and open they are.

[czmars]

10:18 AM on 01/23/2012

lets look at romneys tax return not from now 2011 or 2010. lets look at his tax return when he was dicing an slicing companies and people when he worked for baines. this dude is dirtier than people realize. he is trying in deceive and lie his way but we all know better. get the irs after his a-s. thank you

[dmm1047]

10:17 AM on 01/23/2012

Okay folks, here's yet another small peek into Willard's World. He's going to release his 2010 tax return and his 2011 estimate, which his people probably gave the scalpel treatment to, knowing he was going to run for President. You can bet his $$$ had been carefully given the smoke and mirror treatment. If he wants to be honest, which would be out of character for him, he should release the last 5 years or returns. Romney is Gordon Gekko, in spades.

[tin soldier]

10:11 AM on 01/23/2012

Everyone that has 401Ks or has an individual stock portfolio takes advantage of the same tax breaks that Romney does. So your problem really isn't the tax advantage that you are being convinced Romney's getting ,your problem is Romney's bottom line because it's bigger then yours,,All the so-called tax breaks and credits Romney get ,,so do you.
You're playing right into the class warfare that up until this administration didn't even exist. And you can't see you're being played

[dbrns124]

02:16 AM on 01/24/2012

Please do not be a putz. Class warfare has always existed and is nothing new. Ours goes back to the founding of the republic when only land owners were allowed to vote. It really reared its ugly head during the Great Depression of the past century. Pick up a history book and educate yourself before you start spouting off unsubstantiated rhetoric.
As for the average Joe getting the same tax breaks as Romney last I check most of the 99% are not keeping their 401k's in tax havens in the Cayman Islands or Swiss banks.