A month ago Romney "almost" named a Tax Loophole he "might" close ... Uh oh.
What is the carried interest loophole, and why doesn’t Romney want to close it?
by Dylan Matthews, washingtonpost.com -- August 15, 2012
In an interview in Fortune Tuesday, Mitt Romney ducked a question about whether he’d close the “carried interest loophole,” which allows hedge fund managers and other executives at investment firms -- such as Bain Capital executive Mitt Romney -- to pay lower capital gains tax rates on their wages, rather than the regular income tax rates.
“What I’ve said in the past is that if something is a capital gain it should be treated as a capital gain,” Romney responded. “If something is ordinary income it should be treated as ordinary income.”
But that’s exactly the issue -- are the earnings of hedge fund and private equity executives ordinary income, or are they capital gains? In the past, the Romney campaign has signaled that Romney wants to repeal the deduction, indicating he thinks the executives’ earnings are ordinary income, not capital gains.
[...]
Senate Democrats have tried and failed to force these executives to pay normal income tax rates in recent years, a change that would bring in about $17.7 billion in new revenue over 10 years. The argument for the change is that this income is effectively a salary and should be taxed as such.
[...]
Aaah, it kind of looks like it's the Democratic Party who are the ones,
trying to raise revenues by "closing Tax loopholes" for "hedge fund managers and other executives at investment firms."
You know, those "Carried Interest" loopholes -- like the kind that made Mitt and his corporate pals super-rich.
This week-end Mitt Romney did not fall for THAT "Tax Loophole" trap again. The "Carried Interest" Tax Loophole -- never mentioned this time -- is safe once again to the deep relief of Romney's super-wealthy-backers. Whew! That was close.
Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan Can't Say Which Tax Loopholes They'd Plug
by Laura Bassett, huffingtonpost.com -- Sep 10, 2012
[...]
"Give me an example of a loophole you would close," [David] Gregory said, after trying and failing several times to coax the candidate into giving specifics.
Romney couldn't give one.
"Well, I can tell you that people at the high end, high income taxpayers, are going to have fewer deductions and exemptions," he said. "Those numbers are going to come down. Otherwise they'd get a tax break. Otherwise they'd get a tax break. And I want to make sure people understand, despite what the Democrats said at their convention, I am not reducing taxes on high income taxpayers."
[...]
Let's not forget Mitt's got 12 million jobs to "create" --
from thin air ...
Romney vows to hold down taxes on middle class
by Callum Borchers, Boston Globe Correspondent -- Sep 10, 2012
[...]
In the interview with “Meet the Press,” Romney took a different approach.
He cited reports by Ivy League economists that suggest his tax plan could work, if he closes loopholes the Tax Policy Center deemed untouchable and succeeds in spurring economic growth. And Romney emphasized that the purpose of lowering income tax rates at the top of the scale is to benefit businesses that are taxed as individuals.
[...]
You know those "Job Creators" -- they need every Tax Loophole, Ivy League Mitt can "carry" their way -- whether it's disguised Capital Gains or not.
In Mitt's European-world, "Loopholes" are in the eye of the beholder. One man's Loophole, is simply another man's Tax Haven.