Romney paid at least 13 percent tax rate over 20 years: letter

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney fought back on Friday against Democratic charges he paid no taxes in some years, releasing a letter from his accountants saying he paid an effective federal tax rate of at least 13.6 percent annually over 20 years.

Despite heavy political pressure, Romney stood firm in refusing to make those returns public, but followed through on an earlier promise to release his 2011 return. It showed he paid $1.9 million in taxes on more than $13 million in income - an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and others have questioned whether Romney paid taxes in at least some of those earlier years. President Barack Obama has used Romney's refusal to release more returns as support for his argument that his challenger is out of touch with the lives of everyday Americans.

Romney, who faces Obama in the November 6 election, earns the majority of his income from investment profits, dividends and interest that is taxed at a lower rate than wage income, which is taxed at a top rate of 35 percent.

The tax release on Friday afternoon, traditionally a time when politicians make public information they hope will not attract heavy news coverage, came after a brutal week for Romney's presidential campaign.

A secretly recorded video was released earlier in the week showing Romney denigrating the 47 percent of Americans who would back Obama "no matter what" as government-dependent victims who pay no taxes. That followed last week's fumbled response to attacks on U.S. compounds in Libya and Egypt.

Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, has fallen slightly behind Obama in polls in the White House race, with a series of three high-stakes debates between the two scheduled in October.

Even many of Romney's Republican allies have suggested he release his earlier returns to end the controversy. Romney released his 2010 return in January, which showed he paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent, and had promised to release his 2011 return before the election.