While Willard Romney was firing workers and offshoring their jobs, he was also offshoring the $millions he profited from wrecking American families to tax havens to allow him to evade paying his share of taxes. He says it isn’t so, but his irrevocable positions on both sides of virtually every issue have ruined his credibility. In fact, Willard is just like his Bankster Buddies.
Mitt Romney’s mysterious financial holdings have been the topic of furious discussion this week, after a Vanity Fair investigation detailed how significant amounts of the Republican presidential candidate’s fortune may be parked in offshore bank accounts in low- or no-tax countries, allowing Romney to not only obscure how much he is actually worth but avoid paying the federal taxes he would otherwise owe.
While it’s extremely unusual for someone who wants to be president to abuse offshore tax havens like this, it’s an all too common practice for many major American companies—and is most popular in the financial sector from which Romney comes.
And perhaps not so mysteriously, some of the biggest abusers of offshore tax havens—along with some of the chief facilitators of this practice—seem to have gravitated to Romney’s re-election effort. Of the his campaign’s top eleven contributors, seven are financial firms with significant offshore tax haven activity.
Of the four that do not have extensive tax havens themselves, two are accounting firms that do prolific business in helping set up those havens, and one is a Swiss bank where employees are currently under a federal investigation for helping to facilitate potentially illegal abuse of offshore tax havens.
So while Romney is currently downplaying his use of offshore tax havens, maintaining those evasion structures is no doubt a top priority of the people and industries funding his campaign…
Inserted from <The Nation>
Talk about a Who’s Who in tax evasion schemes! I urge you to click through for the rest of George Zornick’s fine article.
Ed Schultz interviewed George Zornick.
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There’s a simple reason that Willard won’t reveal his finances, as virtually all other contenders for the presidency have. He doesn’t want you to know that you are paying his fair share. Tax evasion through offshoring causes the nation approximately $100 million per year in lost revenue. To make up for this welfare for the 1%, it costs $434 per year for every taxpayer. Look at that list of companies again. They trust Willard, because he’s one of them.
8 Responses to “Romney Just Like His Bankster Buddies”
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This form of tax evasion as practiced by so many of the uber-wealthy should be construed as Grand Larceny.
Patty, he may be completely within the law, but the law has been skewed to benefit the super-rich.
So disgusting–
Indeed!
"In fact, Willard is just like his Bankster Buddies."
Shine the sunlight on this un-American Practice…
Amen!
As I understand it, the simple act of having funds in an off-shore account is not illegal, providing that it is accurately declared when the law requires. If I am correct, then this is not tax evasion, but tax avoidance, which is quite different. However, as an ethical point, if someone, like Rmoney, wants to be president of the US, he should be transparent and hold himself to a higher standard and be completely forthcoming, paying taxes on foreign holdings.
Another point, Rmoney and the Republican/Teabaggers talk about is 'job creators' and lower tax rates for them so that they can re-invest in the US. Well 2 points: 1) if they are investing in job creation, where is it because based on employment numbers it isn't in the US; and 2) if they are socking their money away in foreign bank accounts, how can they be investing or re-investing in the US?
I agree that this foreign bank accounts issue is disgusting. It is time to put laws into place that clearly deal with the issue. Let's face it, the average individual can't afford such things and therefore pays more tax.
Right, Lynn. His activities may or may not be legal. Either way he defines himself as one who is comfortable with having special sets of rules for the super-rich only. Romney would fight for eben more unfair rules to benefit himself and his fellow elites.