PolitiFact, the independent fact checking entity, has concluded that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's accusation that Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes for ten years is so unfounded that it deserves the group's "pants on fire" label.

The site references interviews several news outlets conducted with tax experts, as well as one it did with an economist at New York University's Stern School of Business. Each expert claims that it was extremely unlikely that Romney didn't pay taxes for that long a period.

Reid has produced no evidence to back up his claim other than attribution to a shadowy anonymous source. Romney has denied the claim, and tax experts back him up, saying that the nature of Romney's investments in Bain make it highly unlikely he would have been able to avoid paying taxes altogether -- especially for 10 years.

Reid has made an extreme claim with nothing solid to back it up. Pants on Fire!

The ruling drew instantaneous criticism, including from sources who have called Reid's claim irresponsible. Reid, after all, never said Romney didn't pay taxes. He said a Bain investor told him Romney didn't pay taxes. PolitiFact doesn't offer any evidence to refute that claim. The bigger question, though, is how PolitiFact would know the truth without seeing Romney's tax returns itself.

It is the site's policy to put the burden of proof on the person making the claim or accusation, which explains why it felt comfortable declaring Reid's claim a lie. But if that is the case, Romney's claim that he paid "a lot of taxes" each year could conceivably fall under the same category, as noted by Michael Linden, Director for Tax & Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress.

PolitiFact editor Bill Adair told The Huffington Post that he couldn't make such a ruling without checking the veracity of Romney's claim first.

"But it's worth noting that the tax experts told us and Salon that it's 'highly unlikely,' 'extremely unlikely' and 'preposterous' to claim that Romney has paid no taxes," he emailed. "As for what is 'a lot of taxes,' Romney paid $3 million in 2010 and had an estimate of $3.2 million in 2011. That sounds like a lot to me. But of course, he has not released returns for other years."

Also on HuffPost:

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  • Ron Paul

    "Politically, I think that would help him," Paul said in a interview with <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78599.html#ixzz20w7ycTBE" target="_hplink">Politico</a>. "In the scheme of things politically, you know, it looks like releasing tax returns is what the people want."

  • Richard Lugar

    "I have no idea on why he has restricted the number to this point," <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57474352/pressure-mounts-on-mitt-romney-to-release-more-tax-returns/?tag=socsh" target="_hplink">Lugar said</a>.

  • George Will

    "I don't know why... he didn't get all of this out and tidy up some of his offshore accounts and all the rest," Will said on ABC's "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/15/george-will-mitt-romney-bain_n_1674513.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+HP%2FPolitics+(Politics+on+The+Huffington+Post)" target="_hplink">This Week</a>." "He's done nothing illegal, nothing unseemly, nothing improper, but lots that's impolitic."

  • Bill Kristol

    "He should release the tax returns tomorrow. It's crazy," Kristol said on "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/15/mitt-romney-tax-returns_n_1674325.html" target="_hplink">Fox News Sunday</a>." "You gotta release six, eight, 10 years of back tax returns. Take the hit for a day or two."

  • Robert Bentley

    "I just believe in total transparency," Bentley told <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/07/gop-governor-calls-on-mitt-romney-to-release-additional-tax-returns-and-show-he-has-nothing-to-hide/" target="_hplink">ABC News</a>. "In fact, I was asked today that question -- do you think that Governor Romney should release his tax returns? And I said I do. I said, I release my tax returns. I may be the only public official in Alabama that does, but I release mine every year and I just believe that people should release their tax returns. And if you get them out and just get past that, it just makes it so much easier."

  • Haley Barbour

    When asked on "<a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/barbour-romney-should-release-more-tax-returns-20120710" target="_hplink">The Situation Room</a>" if Romney should release more returns, Barbour said, "I would. But should it be an issue in the campaign? I don't think it amounts to diddly."

  • Michael Steele

    "If there's nothing there, there's no 'there' there, don't create a there,'" Steele said on MSNBC.

  • David Frum

    "Tax returns the next problem. Releasing returns under pressure: more weakness, more pain," Frum <a href="https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/224509505973661696" target="_hplink">tweeted</a>.