New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday that Mitt Romney should put out his tax returns “sooner rather than later” but added that the former Massachusetts governor has already started speaking about the tax rate he pays.
“I would say to Governor Romney is that if you have tax returns to put out, you know, you should put them out sooner rather, than later because it’s always better in my view to have complete disclosure, especially when you’re the front-runner,” said Christie on NBC’s “Today Show.”
However, Christie defended Romney, who he has endorsed, for his decision not to release his tax returns until April.
“The most relevant information is the most recent information. He’s going to release when he files in April. That’s going to be personally up to him. My practice has been all along is that I release my tax returns every year as soon as they are filed,” Christie said. “He already started to speak yesterday about the rate he pays.”
“He says he is going to release them [tax returns] in April. I hope he does,” he added on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” dismissing Romney’s 15 percent effective rate as “much ado about nothing.”
“I don’t think it comes as any great shock because the guy hasn’t been having a job where he’s been getting income over the last number of years,” he said.
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If Romney is embarassed, he should be proposing something like Cain’s “999” – a flat tax replacing the current income and payroll taxes,which is all income is treated equally, would be a lot fairer, and use of a consumption tax that means that the more a rich person spends the more tax he pays. A person who derives all his income from investments pays about 15%, whereas a self-employed person earning the payroll tax maximum of roughly $100K is likely to be paying 43%.