Under Pressure, Romney Says He’ll Release Tax Returns Tuesday
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — After days of stalling on questions about his tax returns and a drubbing in the South Carolina primary, Republican candidate Mitt Romney now says he will make his 2010 tax returns public this week.
“I will release my tax returns for 2010. I’ll do that on Tuesday of this week,” Romney said on FoxNews Sunday.
He also said he would release an “estimate” of his taxes for 2011 this week, online.
Romney conceded on Sunday the tax returns issue had hurt him.
“We made a mistake for holding off as long as we did,” he said.
He also made the point that this release will mean he has made more information public about his own taxes than any of his Republican rivals have so far.
Last Thursday, Romney revealed that his effective tax rate is “closer to 15 percent,” suggesting that he pays less in taxes than many middle income Americans despite being worth an estimated $250 million.
“What’s the effective rate I’ve been paying? It’s probably closer to the 15 percent rate than anything,” he said. “Because my last 10 years, I’ve…my income comes overwhelmingly from some investments made in the past, whether ordinary income or earned annually. I got a little bit of income from my book, but I gave that all away. And then I get speakers fees from time to time, but not very much.”
In addition to hinting at his tax rate, Romney had also suggested that if he does release his returns, he would only release those from 2011 and not those from years prior.
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