Obama campaign maps Romney's holdings in overseas bank accounts

The Obama campaign has used Mitt Romney’s 2010 tax returns to create a map of the presumptive Republican nominee’s overseas bank accounts.

The graphic, published on the Obama campaign website, shows the trusts, funds and partnerships that Romney holds in Bermuda, Ireland, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Cayman Islands and Australia.

Romney’s tax returns did not disclose the value of most of these investments, but one bank account in Switzerland is said to hold approximately $3 million.

“We don’t know if [Romney is] using these accounts to avoid paying his fair share in taxes, but we do know that in 2010, Romney’s tax rate was a startlingly low 13.9%,” read a message on the Obama campaign website. “This means Romney pays a lower tax rate than many teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other middle-class Americans — even a lower rate than most other millionaires.”

Democrats have used their push for the Buffett Rule, which states that wealthier taxpayers should pay a rate at least as high as middle-class taxpayers, to highlight Romney’s wealth and effective 14 percent tax rate. Romney pays a lower tax rate because most of his income is capital gains, which is hit with a 15 percent tax rate.

A spokeswoman for Romney said the president is simply trying to distract voters from his economic record.

“Since Barack Obama was elected, more Americans have lost their jobs, lost their homes and fallen into poverty than any time since the Great Depression,” said Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg in an email to The Hill. 

“Gas prices have doubled. The national debt is at a record high. Americans know they are working harder for less every day. But President Obama has lost touch with the people he was elected to serve and now is lashing out with desperate attacks. The American people have suffered enough over the last three years and deserve better.”

Obama has made the Buffett Rule the centerpiece of his election-year push for economic equality, and has personally called on the former Massachusetts governor to release tax returns from prior to 2010.

The Senate rejected Buffett Rule legislation last month in a mostly party-line vote.

“If elected, Romney’s proposed tax plan would cut tax rates for the wealthy even further — cutting his own taxes and protecting loopholes that he benefits from,” the statement on the campaign website continued. “At the same time, he opposes the President’s Buffett Rule, which would require millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. That’s not right.”

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