Why Mitt Romney should release more of his tax returns

I can look at President Obama's 2011 income tax return online.  In fact, I have done so.  It's interesting.  It tells me he's saving for his retirement, even though he'll get a nice pension from being President.  He's saving to educate his children, so he's clearly a responsible parent.  He and his wife are very charitable, giving freely to a wide variety of worthwhile organizations.

I can also look at Governor Romney's 2010 income tax return online.  In fact, I have done so.  It is also interesting.  It tells me that he earned over $12 million in 2010 from capital gains.  In simpler terms, from selling investments at a profit.  It told me (after a lot of digging to find the details) that just over half of Romney's charitable contributions go to his church and a little less than half (in the form of stock rather than cash, a clever way to avoid capital gains taxes and maximize the tax break from charitable giving) went to a foundation in Boston that benefits families of childhood epilepsy patients at two area hospitals.

Both returns were extensively examined by the media.  But the media has been able to examine years and years worth of returns from President and Mrs. Obama.  Governor and Mrs. Romney have released one return, from 2010.  They released an estimate for 2011, but considering that their 2010 return was more than 200 pages long (roughly 4 times the size of the Obama's 2011 return), it's no surprise their return isn't done yet.  I've got 18 years of experience preparing income tax returns for money and I still found the Romney return extremely complicated.

Governor Romney insists there's nothing to hide in his prior year returns.  He may well be telling the truth.  But there are two major problems with his continued refusal to do something his own father did when he was running for the Presidency.

1.  He's handing a gigantic campaign issue to the Obama campaign to exploit.  Rather than forcing a focus on what Romney describes as President Obama's failures in addressing problems of the economy and unemployment, and his own proposals to solve those issues; Romney is allowing the Obama campaign to focus on this issue instead.

2.  Politics is all about perception.  Maybe he has nothing to hide in those prior year returns.  I don't know, I haven't seen them.  But given his refusal to release them leads people to think there's something in them that needs hiding.  As long as he allows this perception to continue, he will be considered guilty of hiding something even when he may well be innocent.

If Governor Romney can't find his copies of prior year returns, I'm happy to help.  I will be more than pleased to send him some copies of Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return.  Heck, I'll even donate the fee for three years worth of returns if he doesn't have the cash handy.

When he was running for President in 2008, President Obama famously quoted Justice Lewis Brandeis who said "sunshine is the best disinfectant".  This is a case where Governor Romney needs to let the sun shine in.