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Romney to Release 2011 Tax Return and Summary of Last 20 Years at 3pm ET

Romney to Release 2011 Tax Return and Summary of Last 20 Years at 3pm ET

UPDATE: Romney has officially released his 2011 tax return and it can be seen here.

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Romney aides on Friday announced the Republican presidential nominee would release his 2011 tax returns along with a 20-year summary of his tax rates. Ahead of their release, expected at 3 p.m., aides said Romney earned almost $13.7 million last year and paid more than $1.9 million in taxes -- an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent.

But here are the details you'll probably hear repeated for the remainder of the election cycle:

  • Romney's 2011 tax rate 14.1 percent
  • Charity donations: 30 percent

  • Obama's tax rate: 20.5 percent
  • Charity donations: 22 percent

Here are some of the other things the release will supposedly reveal, according to the candidate's website:

  • In 2011, the Romneys paid $1,935,708 in taxes on $13,696,951 in mostly investment income.
  • The Romneys’ effective tax rate for 2011 was 14.1%.
  • The Romneys donated $4,020,772 to charity in 2011, amounting to nearly 30% of their income.
  • The Romneys claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of those charitable contributions.
  • The Romneys’ generous charitable donations in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year. The Romneys thus limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the Governor's statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13% in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.

Critics, including President Barack Obama, have urged Romney to release more than just the two years of returns and follow his father's model. When George Romney ran for president, he released 12 years of tax returns.

In response, the Romney campaign also announced that it will release a summary of 20 years of taxes, detailing his tax expenditures during those years:

  • In each year during the entire 20-year period, the Romney's owed both state and federal income taxes.
  • Over the entire 20-year period, the average annual effective federal tax rate was 20.20%.
  • Over the entire 20-year period, the lowest annual effective federal personal tax rate was 13.66%.
  • Over the entire 20-year period, the Romney's gave to charity an average of 13.45% of their adjusted gross income.
  • Over the entire 20-year period, the total federal and state taxes owed plus the total charitable donations deducted represented 38.49% of total AGI.

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This is a breaking story. Updates will be added as they become available. The AP contributed to this article. Front page photo source courtesy the AP.

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