Liberal tax watchdog says new Romney claims 'impossible'

A liberal tax watchdog group on Monday said that new claims by GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney that his plan would not lower the tax burden on wealthy individuals is untrue.

Mitt Romney made the vow in a Sunday appearance on NBC News's "Meet the Press," where he also vowed not to increase taxes on the middle class.

Citizens for Tax Justice said in a statement that under Romney's plan, it is "impossible" not to lower the tax burdens on the wealthy.

Romney has proposed extending the Bush-era tax rates for individuals and then lowering all marginal rates by 20 percent. He said he would pay for the second part by closing tax loopholes, which he would not specify.

CTJ calculates that both sets of actions would reduce the tax burden on millionaires by an average $250,000 even if all tax loopholes are closed. CTJ calculates that extending the Bush-era rates would result in an average $146,000 tax cut for millionaires, meaning they would get more than a $100,000 tax break from the second part of the Romney plan.

"In other words, for very high-income taxpayers, the value of the tax rate reductions and other new breaks spelled out in Romney’s plan far outweigh the value of all of their tax loopholes and tax expenditures — meaning it would be impossible for Romney to implement his plan without lowering their taxes substantially," the group states.

It argues that because Romney has not spelled out the tax loopholes he would close, it is conceivable that he would not end any. In that case, millionaires would get an average $400,000 tax break.

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