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This graph shows the estimated tax rate of the GOP candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as well as President Barack Obama in 2010. On February 16, Rick Santorum released four years of tax returns, roughly a month after Mitt Romney's tax returns had been an issue in the debates between the Republican candidates in the run-up to the Florida Presidential Preference Primary on January 31, 2012.
Mitt Romney paid a tax rate of about 14 percent in 2010, which corresponds to about 3 million U.S. dollars of taxes paid. This rate is due to the fact that nearly all of his income is taxed as capital gains at a rate of 15 percent, rather than as earned income of up to 35 percent. Mr Romney and his wife had an adjusted gross income of about 21.6 million U.S. dollars in 2010. The newly released data from Mr and Mrs Santorum show that they had an adjusted gross income of about 0.9 million U.S. dollars in 2010 and paid an effective tax rate of over 28 percent. President Obama and his wife paid an effective tax rate of 26.3 percent, with an adjusted gross income of about 1.7 million U.S. dollars. The respective tax return forms for Mr Romney and his wife can be found here; for Mr Gingrich and wife, here; and here for President Obama and his wife. The data for Mr and Mrs Santorum can be found here.