Raised $240M in MA fees, but only covering cost of services
Q: In your first year as governor you raised fees on individuals and corporations by more than $500 million. Would you explain why your record on taxes is better than your competitors?
ROMNEY: First of all, we raised fees by $240 million in our state
because we had a whole series of fees that hadn't been raised, in some cases, in decades, so we brought them up to the cost of providing services. These were not broad-based fees that were required for all people to pay, rather for specialized services.
Source: 2008 Fox News NH Republican primary debate
Jan 6, 2008
Zero tax rate on capital gains, for incomes up to $200,000
I believe it's critical for our economy going forward that we lower taxes for the middle class. And so I've proposed a special savings plan for people in middle incomes: Any interest income, or dividend income, or capital gains earned by people earning
less than $200,000 a year should be taxed at the new rate of zero. Let people save their money for whatever purpose they'd like to save. I believe that will help stimulate our economy, and make it easier for middle-income folks to make ends meet.
Source: 2008 Fox News NH Republican primary debate
Jan 6, 2008
Lowering taxes, like Bush tax cuts, grows the economy
Q: Would you explain why your record on taxes is better than your competitors?
ROMNEY: Lowering taxes grows the economy. Lowering taxes helps build jobs & helps working families, and so I strongly have been of the view that one of the great lessons for
Ronald Reagan was that lowering taxes helped built our economy. Sen. McCain was one of two Republicans who voted against the Bush tax cuts. I believe the Bush tax cuts helped our economy grow and are one of the reasons that we're not in a recession today
Senator McCain continues to believe that that was the right vote to take, and I respect that that's his view. I just happen to disagree with it. As governor, I fought tirelessly to reduce taxes. We cut taxes some 19 times in our state, and we held down s
Source: 2008 Fox News NH Republican primary debate
Jan 6, 2008
FactCheck: Never opposed 2003 Bush cuts, but never supported
Romney & Huckabee feuded over Romney's position on Pres. Bush's tax cuts. Romney claims to have been a supporter of the cuts all along:
HUCKABEE: Did you support or oppose the 2002 Bush tax cuts?
ROMNEY: I have never opposed the Bush 2002 tax cuts.
I supported them. The first comment I made about the Bush tax cuts was that I supported the Bush tax cuts.
Huckabee is referring to the 2003 cuts, which occurred right at the beginning of Romney's term as governor. Romney is correct to say that he neve
publicly opposed Bush's tax cuts. But while he may have supported them, we find no record of his doing so in public. Indeed, Romney rather pointedly refused to endorse the Bush tax cuts in 2003. The Boston Globe cited Romney telling the state's
congressional delegation that he "won't be a cheerleader" for tax cuts that he doesn't agree with. According to this account, Romney added that he wouldn't oppose Bush's cuts either, because he "has to keep a solid relationship with the White House."
Source: FactCheck.org on 2008 Fox News NH Republican primary debate
Jan 6, 2008
Reduce the tax burden on middle-income families
I don't stay awake at night worrying about the taxes that rich people are paying. I'm concerned about the taxes that middle class families are paying. They're under a lot of pressure. Gasoline's expensive. Home heating oil, particularly in the
Northeast, is very difficult for folks. Health care costs are going through the roof. Education costs and higher education are overwhelming. And as a result, we need to reduce the burden on middle-income families in this country.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Signed no-tax pledge; Dems pledge to raise taxes
Q: What about the Americans for Tax Reform pledge to oppose any increase in marginal tax rates? You like to say that you don't just talk about pledges, that, in fact, you actually had to operate one as governor of Massachusetts. But in your first year as
governor, you raised fees and fines by $500 million, including fees paid by the blind, by gun owners, by those seeking training against domestic violence, and even by used car shoppers.
A: The total fees raised were $260 million, which is a big number.
We had a $3 billion budget gap. The Democrats wanted to raise taxes. I said, "No way." And in fact we did not raise taxes on our citizens, and we lowered them across that state time and again. I'm proud of what we were able to do to lower taxes.
I'm also going to lower taxes for the American people, and that's the key thing. Right now, you can listen to the Democrats. Their pledge is clear. They're going to raise taxes. I want to lower them.
Commission studied FairTax and found serious flaws
Q: The FairTax would eliminate the income tax, estate tax, payroll tax and capital gains tax and replace it with a 23% sales tax. Do you support it?
A: It's good, but it's not that good. There are a lot of features that are very attractive about a
FairTax. Getting rid of the IRS is something we'd all love. But the truth is, we're going to have to pay taxes. Completely throwing out our tax system and coming up with an entirely new one is something we have to do very, very carefully.
The president's commission on tax reform looked at this and said: Not a good idea. Some of the reasons are the FairTax, for instance, charges a 23% tax, plus state sales tax, on a new home, when you purchase a new home. But if you buy an old home,
there's no tax. Think what that might do to the construction industry. We need to thoroughly take it apart before we make a change of that nature. That's why my view is, get rid of the tax on savings and let middle-income people save their money tax-free
Pledges no new taxes in 2007 after refusing pledge in 2002
Q: Your critics have called you "flip-flop Mitt" for your decision to take the "no new taxes" pledge this year after refusing to do so in 2002.
A: I want to make it very clear that I'm not going to raise taxes. As governor of Massachusetts, I made it
very clear there, and I did not raise taxes. We faced a huge budget gap, but I recognize that raising taxes could lead to a slowdown in our economy, so we didn't do it. We balanced our budget, and that's exactly what I'll do with the federal government.
Source: 2007 Republican Debate in South Carolina
May 15, 2007
FactCheck: Did not raise MA taxes, but DID raise MA fees
Mitt Romney said he "did not raise taxes" when he was governor of Massachusetts. Technically, that is true, but it's also misleading. Romney did not raise anything called a tax during his tenure as governor, but he did increase state revenues by raising
various types of fees. In 2003, Romney doubled fees for court filings (which include marriage licensing fees), professional registrations and firearm licenses. Romney also quintupled the per gallon delivery fee for gasoline (money that is supposed to be
for cleaning up any leaks from underground fuel tanks). All told, the fees raised more than $400 million in their first year. Romney also "closed loopholes" in the corporate tax structure, a move that generated another $150 million in increased revenue.
In addition, Romney cut local aid, a program whereby the state supplied revenue to cities and counties. In 2004, Romney cut nearly 5 percent, or about $230 million, from the local aid budget.
Q: In addition to the Bush tax cut, name a tax you'd like to cut.
A: I like middle-income Americans to be able to save their money and not have to pay any tax at all on interests, dividends or capital gains.
A zero rate on capital gains for middle-income Americans. And by the way, we're all talking about how anxious we are to veto overspending. I was a governor. I've done it hundreds of times. I can't wait to get my hands on Washington's budget.
Source: 2007 GOP primary debate, at Reagan library, hosted by MSNBC
May 3, 2007
My pledge: no freeze on tax rollback
"All voters care about great education, improving our environment, bringing more jobs to Massachusetts and balancing the budget without raising taxes. That being the case, I think I have a very strong proposition to take to the voters of Massachusetts,"
Romney said.
Calling it "my pledge," Romney vowed not to support a freeze or reversal of the plan to roll income taxes back to 5 percent by next year even in the face of a budget hole nearing $3 billion. Romney chided Democrats for taking the
"easy way" to fix problems by passing the tax hat.
"The easy way to fix any problem is to go to the people and say you have to pay more money, but that's not what the job of management is," Romney said. "That's my pledge,
we are not going to raise taxes, we are not going to walk away from what the voters are in favor of doing, which is bringing the tax rates down."
Source: David Guarino, Boston Herald
Mar 22, 2002
Pledges not to raise taxes
The issues that people are talking about are taxes, crime and welfare. People want change on those issues and when it comes to the issues people line up with me.
My job between now and eight o'clock Tuesday night is to keep reminding people of our differences on issues. I'm absolutely committed to not raising taxes. He has not been willing to take that pledge.
Source: Scot Lehigh, Peter Howe in Boston Globe
Nov 6, 1994
