 Mitt Romney offered a partial snapshot of his vast personal fortune late Monday, disclosing income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year — virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments. The returns for 2010 and estimates for 2011 showed that he will pay a total of $6.2 million in taxes on income of $42.5 million. Romney and his wife Ann paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent in 2010 and expect to pay a 15.4 percent effective tax rate when they file their returns for 2011. So this is a foundational belief for him, and he’s happy to have that debate.” 
 
 A lower rate 
 
 Because the bulk of Romney’s income flows from investment profits, it is taxed at a flat 15 percent rate, far below the highest rates on ordinary wages. I don’t think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes.” 
 
 He said his tax bill is “entirely legal and fair,” adding: “I’m proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes.” 
 
 Romney released his tax returns — nearly 550 pages, including the 2010 returns for three family trust funds and a foundation — in a bid to regain his footing in the Republican presidential campaign after stumbling badly in last weekend’s South Carolina primary. He plans to call for higher taxes on millionaires in his State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night, embracing an idea advanced by billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Occupy Wall Street protesters. THE CARRIED INTEREST EDGE 
 
 Romney got about $13 million in income over the past two years from “carried interest,” a form of earnings that is available to private equity partners and taxed at the 15-percent investment income tax rate, not the higher wage income rate. Counting all U.S. taxpayers, the average tax rate is 11 percent, according to The Tax Foundation, another think tank. Romney has an individual retirement account worth between $20.7 million and $101.6 million, according to his 2011 financial disclosure. The release of his taxes is unlikely to satisfy Democrats, who said they will continue to push for more transparency — particularly if Republicans select Romney to face Obama in November. That’s in line with his earlier estimates, but sharply lower than the rates paid by President Obama and Romney’s closest Republican rival, Newt Gingrich. He also has a blind trust for his wife, Ann, containing $10 million. REUTERS/Handout 
 
 The Cayman holdings and holdings in a Swiss bank account - closed in 2010 after an adviser decided it could be politically embarrassing to Romney - were reported on tax returns and were not vehicles to avoid taxes, the advisers said. Malt said that “taxes were all fully paid” on the account, but that “it just wasn’t worth it; I closed the account.” 
 
 The tax returns showed Romney and his wife contributed $7 million to charity over the two years covered, much of it going to the Mormon church. Instead, Romney and his wife, Ann, collected millions in capital gains from a profusion of investments, as well as stock dividends and interest payments. His earnings through Bain have drawn controversy because they are treated as capital gains rather than wages and thus benefit from being taxed at the lower rate of 15 percent. Asked why Romney was not releasing tax records for the years in the 1980s and 1990s in which he made his fortune at Bain, Ginsberg said the two years covered by the tax returns should give a broad picture of Romney’s financial situation. “We’re not going to get into the game of once you give them something, they demand more,” Ginsberg said. The revelation that Romney pays a significantly lower tax rate than most wealthy Americans underscores his image as a multimillionaire financier, an image that some Republicans believe would hurt his chances in the general election. It became a distraction to Romney’s campaign, and Romney’s fuzzy answers on releasing his records aggravated the problem. “If you release one year, you can pretty it up,” Begala said. Monday’s disclosure marked the first time the former Massachusetts governor has released his personal tax returns.
– Just hours after debating tax rates during the GOP debate in Florida, Mitt Romney released his tax returns, revealing that he collected $20.9 million in income last year, and $21.7 million the previous year—nearly all of it in profits, dividends, or interest from investments. None came from wages, reports the Washington Post. He estimates he'll pay $3.2 million in federal taxes for a tax rate of 15.4% for last year's income. The previous year, he paid $3 million in taxes at a 13.9% rate. His tax rates are below most American wage earners because his income isn't from wages, notes Reuters. The Romneys gave away $7 million in charitable contributions the last two years, including $4.1 million to the Mormon church. Romney boasted during the debate that his tax bill is "entirely legal and fair," adding: "I'm proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes." Newt Gingrich, who supports a 15% flat tax, quipped during the debate that he wants to bring Americans' tax rate "down" to Romney's. But Romney pointed out that Gingrich wants a 0% tax on capital gains, and that under such a strategy, he would pay "no taxes." Romney has released nearly 550 pages of tax documents, including the 2010 returns for three family trusts and a foundation, after criticism from rivals for failure to bare his income earlier and following a sound trouncing in South Carolina by Gingrich.