Romney: I never paid less than 13 percent in taxes
Updated at 1:40 p.m. ET
(CBS News) After weeks of speculation about his tax returns, Mitt Romney on Thursday said he paid at least 13 percent in income taxes for each of the past 10 years.
"I did go back and look at my taxes, and over the past 10 years I never paid less than 13 percent," Romney told reporters at the Greenville-Spartanburg International airport in South Carolina. "I think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that. So I paid taxes every single year."
Romney has publicly released his 2010 tax return and an estimate of his 2011 return. He has refused to release any more, arguing that Democrats will use the returns to level false charges against him.
The presumed GOP candidate has come under fire from both Democrats and some Republicans for refusing to release more of his tax returns. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that an "extremely credible" source from Bain Capital -- the private equity firm Romney founded -- told him that Romney avoided paying taxes for 10 years.
"Harry Reid's charge is totally false," Romney said today. "I'm sure waiting for Harry to put up who it was that told him what he says they told him. I don't believe it for a minute, by the way. But every year I've paid at least 13 percent, and if you add in addition the amount that goes to charity, why, the number gets well above 20 percent."
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Romney's campaign had previously denied the candidate ever paid $0 in taxes, though this is the first time he's offered more specific information about what he's paid in the past. When asked in a July 29 interview with ABC whether he's ever paid a rate below 13.9 percent, Romney said, "I haven't calculated that. I'm happy to go back and look, but my view is I have paid all of the taxes required by law."
Sen. John McCain, whose 2008 presidential campaign reviewed several years of Romney's returns during the vice presidential vetting process, has also said that Reid's charges were wrong.
Romney added that given the challenges facing America, "the fascination with taxes I've paid I find to be very small-minded."
The Obama campaign responded to Romney's remarks today with a challenge.
"Mitt Romney today said that he did indeed 'go back and look' at his tax returns and that he never paid less than 13% in taxes in any year over the past decade," Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith said in a statement. "Since there is substantial reason to doubt his claims, we have a simple message for him: prove it. Even though he's invested millions in foreign tax havens, offshore shell corporations, and a Swiss bank account, he's still asking the American people to trust him."
Romney also used his short briefing with reporters on the campaign trail to compare his plan for Medicare reform with President Obama's. To help spell out the differences, Romney drew up a chart on a white board."I describe in my plan how we keep Medicare solvent," Romney said, adding that his plan focuses on creating greater competition and means testing future Medicare recipients so that higher-income people receive lower benefits.
By contrast he said, Mr. Obama is not cutting funds from Medicare not to keep it solvent, but "to fund Obamacare."
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Still waiting on the last 12 years of your tax returns Mitt "Houdini" Romney.
We are very curious, among many things, how you managed to cram 20 to 100 million into an IRA account?
IRA's are capped at 2,000 per year (individual) or up to 30k for Corps.
The average IRA account holds around 67,000 in it.
Even the experts are trying to figure out how he did it. It's so incredible, it's like Mitt Romney is a money magician!
He's the David Copperfield of asset illusion!
He should have a Las Vegas stage show.
You give him a bunch of companies, he rips them a part, shuffles them around, plays games with loans and offshoring and shell companies and voila!
There is a big poof of smoke and when the smoke is gone, so are the companies, the workers and all the profits! Heck, nobody can't even figure out where the money went! It's so cool, nobody can figure it out!
It looks like Mitt Romney is to the world of Corporate deconstruction, offshoring and tax evasion as Houdini was to the world of magic!
Poof!
... on the few pennies I admitted to earning, since the rest was stashed in Switzerland and the Caymans where the IRS couldn't touch it.
How patriotic is it to use your many many millions to let foreign banks give out loans to foreign interests, rather than have it in America so American banks can lend it to Americans. Better to help someone other than your fellow Americans, huh Romney.
On a side note I heard Ryan compare the tax rates on businesses in the US to Canada highlighting how Canada has a much lower rate that we need to emulate in the US. Ok I will give him that if we also get the same health care system available to everyone. More slight of hand by the GOP. Look at this but not that.
That's because Romney's hiding SOMETHING. LOL
LOL!
So, dont vote for him.
Romney and Obama made X millions this year. I hope to make X thousand.
I do not care what they make. That has no affect on me. Stop the stupid class warfare! In case anyone has not noticed we have 8% plus unemployment!!!