Wait. Did you feel that? How the world just stopped spinning now?
No? Exactly.
Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has released his full 2011 federal income tax returns and the world did not stop. Romney had previously indicated that his returns were on extension; the due date for federal income tax returns on six-month extension is October 15, 2012.
Brad Walt, the trustee of the Romneys’ blind trust, explained that the returns will show that Romney reported $13,696,951 in income and paid $1,935,708 in federal taxes. Romney’s reported effective tax rate is 14.1% for 2011 – almost exactly the number that he touted as his baseline.
Romney has previously released his 2010 federal income tax returns; you can read my commentary on those here. He has not released any prior year returns, despite repeated calls to do so. Walt also reported that for the 20 years prior to 2010, Romney paid an average federal tax rate of 20.2%.
I sense I have some serious reading to do this afternoon – that last set of returns wasn’t a short stack. I’ll post my take on the 2011 returns after I’ve had the chance to plug through them. I promise, in the interim, the world will keep turning.
