FACT CHECK: Huckabee Attacks the Vice President’s Tax Returns When Romney’s Hiding His
Governor Mike Huckabee just attacked Vice President Biden’s tax returns when Mitt Romney is hiding his from the American people. Romney has refused to keep with precedent set by his own father by releasing multiple years of tax returns. Huckabee himself has attacked Romney for having offshore holdings in the Cayman Islands. Until Romney releases his returns, voters can’t know whether he used his Swiss bank account, Cayman Islands investments, or Bermuda shell corporation to avoid U.S. taxes or hedge against the dollar.
HUCKABEE CRITICIZED ROMNEY’S OFFSHORE HOLDINGS IN 2007
Mike Huckabee During 2008 Presidential Primary: “But Out There In America, The Reason That We're Number One In The Polls Is Because I'm The Guy That Doesn't Have Some Offshore Mailbox And Bank Account In The Caymans Hiding My Money.” [NBC, 12/19/07]
ROMNEY HAS RELEASED ONLY ONE FULL YEAR OF TAX RETURNS FOR Voters AND REFUSES TO RELEASE RETURNS PRIOR TO 2010
Associated Press “Keeping His Secrets, Mitt Romney Tends To Lift the Veil On His Finances And Campaign Only If The Law Says He Must. … He Resists Releasing All Of His Tax Returns, Making Just A Single Year Public After Facing Pressure To Do So.” “Keeping his secrets, Mitt Romney tends to lift the veil on his finances and campaign only if the law says he must. The Republican presidential candidate refuses to identify his biggest donors who ‘bundle’ money for his campaign. He often declines to say who's meeting with him or what he's doing for hours at a time. He puts limits on media access to his fundraisers. And he resists releasing all of his tax returns, making just a single year public after facing pressure to do so.” [Associated Press, 6/11/12]
Washington Post’s Ezra Klein: “So Let’s Be Clear: Romney Hasn’t Released His ‘Taxes.’ He Has Released A Single Tax Return From A Year In Which He Was Already Running For President For A Second Time.” [Klein, Washington Post, 1/24/12]
Romney Has Said He Won’t Release Any Tax Returns Prior To 2010. “Romney has said he won’t go beyond releasing his 2010 tax records and, before the November election, his 2011 taxes.” [Associated Press, 7/14/12]
ROMNEY FAILED TO DISCLOSE A SWISS BANK ACCOUNT ON HIS FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE FORM, WHICH WAS NOT KNOWN UNTIL HE RELEASED HIS 2010 TAX RETURNS
2/3/12: Romney Amended His Personal Financial Disclosure As He Had Previously Failed To Report A Swiss Bank Account That Held $3 Million Until It Was Closed In 2010. “Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney amended his personal financial disclosure Friday evening to reflect income from a now-closed Swiss bank account and one other investment fund he had originally failed to report on an ethics form…. The letter sent Friday to the Federal Election Commission by a law firm representing the campaign noted that the two funds left off the report together generated less than $5,000 in income. The account in the Swiss bank UBS, which held $3 million until it was closed in 2010, earned about $1,700 in interest.” [Los Angeles Times, 2/3/12]
Vanity Fair: Romney’s $3 Million Swiss Bank Account Provides A Reminder Of “George Romney’s Warning That One Or Two Tax Returns Can Provide A Misleading Picture.” “A $3 million Swiss bank account appeared in the 2010 returns, then winked out of existence in 2011 after the trustee closed it, as if to remind us of George Romney’s warning that one or two tax returns can provide a misleading picture.” [Vanity Fair, 7/3/12]
Romney’s Swiss Bank Account “Like Many Other Romney Investments- Constituted A Bet Against The U.S. Dollar, An Odd Thing For A Presidential Candidate To Do.” “Ed Kleinbard, a professor of tax law at the University of Southern California, says the Swiss account “has political but not tax-policy resonance,” since it—like many other Romney investments—constituted a bet against the U.S. dollar, an odd thing for a presidential candidate to do.” [Vanity Fair, 7/3/12]
ROMNEY’S OWNERSHIP OF A BERMUDA-BASED SHELL COMPANY WAS NOT KNOWN UNTIL ROMNEY RELEASED HIS 2010 TAX RETURNS
Romney Holds A Bermuda-Based Company, Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd., Which Was Among Several Romney Holdings Not Listed On Any Of Romney's State Or Federal Financial Reports. “Based in Bermuda, Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd. was not listed on any of Romney's state or federal financial reports. The company is among several Romney holdings that have not been fully disclosed, including one that recently posted a $1.9 million earning — suggesting he could be wealthier than the nearly $250 million estimated by his campaign.” [Associated Press, 7/4/12]
Associated Press: “Romney's 2010 Tax Returns Show Him And His Wife As Sole Owners Of Sankaty.” “Romney's 2010 tax returns show him and his wife as sole owners of Sankaty. A 2011 Bermuda legal document lists Malt as Sankaty's president. Michael F. Goss, currently Bain Capital's chief operating officer, is listed as vice president, and Quorum Corporate Ltd., a Bermuda law firm, as secretary. Malt deferred questions about Sankaty to the Romney campaign; Bain Capital and Quorum declined to comment.” [Associated Press, 7/4/12]
TAX EXPERTS SAY ROMNEY LIKELY AVOIDED TAXES BY INVESTING IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS
Romney Campaign’s Assertion That He Receives No Tax Benefit From His Cayman Islands Holdings “May Be Wrong Or Misleading,” Tax Experts Say Romney’s IRA Likely Avoided The “Unrelated Business Income Tax.” “Mitt Romney’s campaign has attacked an ABC News report on the candidate’s offshore investments, saying his holdings in the Cayman Islands and elsewhere have no effect on the amount he pays in U.S. taxes. But the campaign’s assertions may be wrong or misleading. Tax experts said some of the offshore holdings are likely intended to help Mr. Romney avoid paying an obscure but hefty tax of as much as 35% on some of those investments, held in a tax-deferred retirement account. […] tax experts said that had Mr. Romney’s IRA invested in Bain funds in the U.S., he would likely have been forced to pay an obscure levy called the “unrelated business income tax,” also known as UBIT.” [Washington Wire, Wall Street Journal, 1/19/12]