Did Mitt Romney receive a Tax "Amnesty" from the IRS?
UBS, the 'Giant' (or, shall we say the 'Monster') Switzerland based Investment Bank paid $760 million in 'fines' to the US Government, in 2006-2007, after a prolonged legal fight, to settle potential criminal charges for aiding & abetting Americans taxpayers into criminal tax shelters, aka undisclosed numbered Swiss Bank accounts.
US tax law is clear: one MUST disclose
UBS, the 'Giant' (or, shall we say the 'Monster') Switzerland based Investment Bank paid $760 million in 'fines' to the US Government, in 2006-2007, after a prolonged legal fight, to settle potential criminal charges for aiding & abetting Americans taxpayers into criminal tax shelters, aka undisclosed numbered Swiss Bank accounts.
US tax law is clear: one MUST disclose
all income, regardless of its source, and pay federal taxes on ALL income.
Tax-Shelters do exactly what shelters do - provide a facility where current income is sheltered from purview, and deferred indefinitely for tax purposes.
So while the 'Magical' Swiss Bank Account Number is available for spending money, none of the income is reported to the US IRS. Hence the taxpayer has no LEGAL obligation to report such income.
Alongside paying fines, UBS also handed over identities of 4,000 US citizens who had availed themselves of such services. The IRS began reaching out to everyone on this list and offered an Amnesty deal: Pay the taxes owed plus a 20% penalty on the gross cumulative undisclosed income, in exchange for Amnesty from criminal prosecution.
For the uninitiated, Al Capone was indicted, convicted, and served time - for not paying his taxes. The Feds couldn't pin anything else on him at that time.
America is still a place where "Due Process" is a constitutional right. So, each person in that 'Elite' group had to make a choice: take the Amnesty deal, or, roll the dice and have their day in court. By way of reference, the folks over at the IRS do play hardball - the penalty rate today is 27% for anyone who's not taken the deal yet.
Mitt Romney, remember, was running for the GOP nomination during the run-up to our 2008 Presidential elections, until he ended his campaign in favor of Sen. McCain.
Tax-Shelters do exactly what shelters do - provide a facility where current income is sheltered from purview, and deferred indefinitely for tax purposes.
So while the 'Magical' Swiss Bank Account Number is available for spending money, none of the income is reported to the US IRS. Hence the taxpayer has no LEGAL obligation to report such income.
Alongside paying fines, UBS also handed over identities of 4,000 US citizens who had availed themselves of such services. The IRS began reaching out to everyone on this list and offered an Amnesty deal: Pay the taxes owed plus a 20% penalty on the gross cumulative undisclosed income, in exchange for Amnesty from criminal prosecution.
For the uninitiated, Al Capone was indicted, convicted, and served time - for not paying his taxes. The Feds couldn't pin anything else on him at that time.
America is still a place where "Due Process" is a constitutional right. So, each person in that 'Elite' group had to make a choice: take the Amnesty deal, or, roll the dice and have their day in court. By way of reference, the folks over at the IRS do play hardball - the penalty rate today is 27% for anyone who's not taken the deal yet.
Mitt Romney, remember, was running for the GOP nomination during the run-up to our 2008 Presidential elections, until he ended his campaign in favor of Sen. McCain.
Over the past weekend, Romney release all 375 pages of his 2011 tax returns. While there are some interesting takes on Romney's 1040 for 2011 - the effective tax rate paid of 14 odd percent, etc., the real bomb of a story may lie in his 2009 returns which are not required to be released, and which have not been released by Romney.
We know that Romney had Swiss Bank accounts. Mysteriously enough, his 2011 returns make no mention of any assets in Swiss banks. Cayman Islands,yes. But not in Switzerland. There's now plenty of chatter to outright dismiss the notion, that Romney accepted such an IRS Amnesty deal, as mere political mud-slinging.
Did Mitt Romney do a la Al Capone in not disclosing ALL his income? I am leaning towards the affirmative. And, if that is true, then Mitt has duped every Republican, of all stripes, in the GOP - in running for and securing the GOP Republican Party Candidate for President of the United States of America.
A criminal act in violation of US laws, not withstanding the Amnesty, must preclude such individuals from occupying any elected office. Forget about becoming the US President. If these allegations are true, Romney shouldn't ever be elected to ANY office - municipal, State, or Federal - in our country. Not even to his local Country Club Board.
Gotta say though Mitt, you got some Brass.
We know that Romney had Swiss Bank accounts. Mysteriously enough, his 2011 returns make no mention of any assets in Swiss banks. Cayman Islands,yes. But not in Switzerland. There's now plenty of chatter to outright dismiss the notion, that Romney accepted such an IRS Amnesty deal, as mere political mud-slinging.
Did Mitt Romney do a la Al Capone in not disclosing ALL his income? I am leaning towards the affirmative. And, if that is true, then Mitt has duped every Republican, of all stripes, in the GOP - in running for and securing the GOP Republican Party Candidate for President of the United States of America.
A criminal act in violation of US laws, not withstanding the Amnesty, must preclude such individuals from occupying any elected office. Forget about becoming the US President. If these allegations are true, Romney shouldn't ever be elected to ANY office - municipal, State, or Federal - in our country. Not even to his local Country Club Board.
Gotta say though Mitt, you got some Brass.
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