Questions over similar investments were raised when Romney ran for the presidential nomination in 2008.
While at Bain Capital, Romney used offshore tax havens to set up a private equity fund to help investors avoid paying US taxes, the Los Angeles Times reported in 2007. The legal operations in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands helped shield foreign investors from US taxes they would have paid investing in American companies.
A Romney spokeswoman disputed the ABC News report and said the candidate was paying the same amount of US taxes on the offshore accounts. “ABC is flat wrong,” Andrea Saul said. “The Romney’s investments in funds established in the Cayman Islands are taxed in the very same way they would be if those funds were established in the United States. These are not tax havens and it is false to say so.”
Romney’s campaign also noted that his money is held in a blind trust, which he doesn’t control.
The news is likely to provide more fodder for Romney’s rivals. Newt Gingrich continued to chide Romney for not releasing his tax returns immediately. Gingrich revealed today that he pays 31 percent in government taxes – a rate that appears to be twice the rate of Romney -- and vowed to release his 2010 returns today and his 2011 returns as soon as they are prepared.
Romney this week agreed to release his 2011 returns in April, and his advisers have largely dismissed the hubbub over the tax releases.
“More people care about the fluoridation of water than care about this issue,” said one Romney adviser.
