During his presidential campaign. Mitt Romney has insisted that the layoffs and the controversy at Bain Capital for the past 10 years have no connection with him since he retired in 1999.
However records may be proving other wise. Tax experts claim that Romney has benefited from legally dubious tax avoidance strategies employed by Bain but his campaign noted that the investments are kept in a blind trust completely out of his control.
But according to his 2010 tax return, when the Internal Revenue Service came calling in April, Romney has a different answer and Romney received lucrative tax breaks for “active” participation in the private equity firm he founded, as well as many other investments.
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Spokeswoman Michele Davis says:
“As we have said many times before, Governor and Mrs. Romney’s assets are managed on a blind basis. They do not control the investment of these assets. The investment decisions are made by a trustee,”
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However Romney’s 2010 tax returns he had a different answer for the IRS. According to Huffington Post:
The presumptive GOP nominee reaps lucrative tax breaks for “active” participation in the private equity firm he founded, as well as a host of other investments.
As David Kautter, a tax expert at American University, explains, the concept of active investment has different meanings for the IRS and for regular people. “When you say you’re actively involved in all these businesses, people do think, OK, you’re actively involved. But the tax law has its own definition,” he said.
That still leaves Romney in a rhetorical jam: For tax purposes, he claims an active status; for political purposes, he claims to have zero to do with the investments.
Sounds like a sticky situation for Romney. We’ll see if he clarifies this soon.
SOURCE: Huffington Post
