( – promoted by lowkell)
Crossposted at ProgressVA
‘Romney Rule’ Lets Millionaires Like Mitt Romney Pay Lower Tax Rate Than Many Middle Class Virginians
As Mitt Romney visits the Fairfax County Republican Campaign Headquarters today with Governor Bob McDonnell, ProgressVA, a state advocacy organization for a fairer Virginia, called for repealing the ‘Romney Rule’ which lets millionaires like Mitt Romney pay a lower tax rate than many middle class Virginians. Romney, who has a net worth of as much as $250 million, is estimated to pay a tax rate of just 14 percent – less than half the rate (29.9%) a typical middle class American making $60,000 a year would pay. Romney and many other millionaires are able to pay a lower tax rate because they earn their money largely from investments, which loopholes allow to be taxed at a lower rate than the wages that makeup most or all of the income of most middle class Americans.
“It’s outrageous that millionaires like Mitt Romney can get away with paying a tax rate that is less than half of what some middle class Virginians are paying,” said ProgressVA Executive Director Anna Scholl. “It’s time to put an end to policies that allow the super rich to have loopholes and perks, while middle class families are left paying. We need to repeal the Romney Rule and other unfair tax loopholes that let millionaires and billionaires pay a lower tax rate than middle class Virginians who work for a living.”
ProgressVA also called on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, which he has consistently refused to do during two decades of running for office. When running for the Senate in 1994, Romney called on the late Senator Ted Kennedy to release his tax returns to prove he had “nothing to hide.” Without his tax returns, it’s impossible to know how Romney is making his millions and what his exact tax rate is.
“Does Mitt Romney have something to hide,” asked Scholl. “Virginians deserve to know once and for all whether Romney is one of the 100,000 millionaires who is paying a lower tax rate than many middle class workers. Unless Romney has something to hide there’s no reason he can’t follow President Obama’s lead and show Virginians his tax returns.”
President Obama’s proposed “Buffett Rule,” which Romney opposes, would repeal the tax loopholes that allow some millionaires, including Mitt Romney, to pay a lower tax rate than many middle class Americans.
For more information, please visit ProgressVA.org.
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