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http://www.newsmax.com/politics/bloomberg_tax_returns/2007/08/24/27267.html
NYC Mayor Won't Release Tax Returns
Friday, August 24, 2007
NEW YORK -- Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor and potential
presidential candidate, is refusing to release his income tax returns,
unlike many politicians including the president and past New York City
mayors.
Bloomberg did release documents Friday offering general information about
his wealth and investments _ including a listing of homes it would take the
fingers of two hands to count.
Bloomberg, 65, has followed this practice since he first campaigned for
office in 2001.
The law does not require presidential candidates to release their tax
returns, but it is a tradition to do so. Some past contenders have ignored
it, including fellow billionaire Ross Perot, in 1992.
There has been talk that Bloomberg, who left the left the Republican Party
and registered as an independent this year, might run for president. He says
he's not running.
Spokesman Stu Loeser said that releasing specific information would put
Bloomberg's privately held financial information company, Bloomberg LP, at
risk.
Bloomberg does not say publicly how much he is worth, but his fortune is
estimated to be at least $5.5 billion, and probably much more. He resigned
as the company's chief executive before taking office in 2002, but retains
72 percent ownership.
Bloomberg, who declines to take a city salary and earns $1 a year, had
always paid at the maximum level for federal taxes in the years since he has
been in office, but did not do so in 2006.
Loeser wouldn't give the exact rate he paid but said it was between 25 and
30 percent. The top rate for 2006 was 35 percent.
The mayor's office provided copies of Bloomberg's tax forms that replaced
dollar amounts with letters _ A through G _ representing broad ranges. The
highest specified range was $250,000-$500,000, represented by "F." The
letter "G" stood for anything higher.
Reporters were allowed to examine the forms for two hours at Bloomberg's
accountant's office but could not photocopy or take them.
For the first time since such information was made public, Bloomberg took a
chunk of money, designated only as "G," out of his company as a capital
gain, in addition to what he already receives as his income.
One explanation for this move could be the money he used to set up his new
philanthropic foundation, the Bloomberg Family Foundation. The mayor is a
longtime philanthropist but recently created a foundation to direct his
giving.
The forms also showed that Bloomberg had to pay the alternative minimum tax,
apparently for the first time, in 2006. The amount was listed as "G" and it
was not clear why he had not paid it before.
After Bloomberg took office in 2002, he was forced by the city's Conflicts
of Interest Board to sell at least $45 million in publicly traded stocks in
companies that do business with the city, and ended up selling many at a
loss.
The board does allow Bloomberg to invest in diversified mutual funds, New
York municipal bonds and broad-based, exchange-traded funds.
He files a separate financial disclosure report with the city board that
lists those investments, along with other major assets and income. Those
amounts are also represented by the same ranges.
That document, which was also provided to reporters, lists all of the homes
he owns: his primary residence on Manhattan's Upper East Side; a house in
London, two homes in upstate New York; a ski condo in Vail, Colo.; a house
in Bermuda; his foundation's building in Manhattan; a house with a stable in
Florida for his equestrian daughter; and a Manhattan condo for a woman whom
he is no longer dating.
The tax forms showed he paid wages of "G" for staff who run his households.
Declared presidential candidates are required to file personal financial
disclosure reports with the Federal Election Commission.
It is also tradition for mayoral candidates and mayors to disclose their tax
information.
Bloomberg scoffed at one point during his first mayoral race that the only
reason his rivals released their tax returns _ and he didn't _ was because
"they don't make anything."
NYC Mayor Won't Release Tax Returns
Friday, August 24, 2007
NEW YORK -- Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire mayor and potential
presidential candidate, is refusing to release his income tax returns,
unlike many politicians including the president and past New York City
mayors.
Bloomberg did release documents Friday offering general information about
his wealth and investments _ including a listing of homes it would take the
fingers of two hands to count.
Bloomberg, 65, has followed this practice since he first campaigned for
office in 2001.
The law does not require presidential candidates to release their tax
returns, but it is a tradition to do so. Some past contenders have ignored
it, including fellow billionaire Ross Perot, in 1992.
There has been talk that Bloomberg, who left the left the Republican Party
and registered as an independent this year, might run for president. He says
he's not running.
Spokesman Stu Loeser said that releasing specific information would put
Bloomberg's privately held financial information company, Bloomberg LP, at
risk.
Bloomberg does not say publicly how much he is worth, but his fortune is
estimated to be at least $5.5 billion, and probably much more. He resigned
as the company's chief executive before taking office in 2002, but retains
72 percent ownership.
Bloomberg, who declines to take a city salary and earns $1 a year, had
always paid at the maximum level for federal taxes in the years since he has
been in office, but did not do so in 2006.
Loeser wouldn't give the exact rate he paid but said it was between 25 and
30 percent. The top rate for 2006 was 35 percent.
The mayor's office provided copies of Bloomberg's tax forms that replaced
dollar amounts with letters _ A through G _ representing broad ranges. The
highest specified range was $250,000-$500,000, represented by "F." The
letter "G" stood for anything higher.
Reporters were allowed to examine the forms for two hours at Bloomberg's
accountant's office but could not photocopy or take them.
For the first time since such information was made public, Bloomberg took a
chunk of money, designated only as "G," out of his company as a capital
gain, in addition to what he already receives as his income.
One explanation for this move could be the money he used to set up his new
philanthropic foundation, the Bloomberg Family Foundation. The mayor is a
longtime philanthropist but recently created a foundation to direct his
giving.
The forms also showed that Bloomberg had to pay the alternative minimum tax,
apparently for the first time, in 2006. The amount was listed as "G" and it
was not clear why he had not paid it before.
After Bloomberg took office in 2002, he was forced by the city's Conflicts
of Interest Board to sell at least $45 million in publicly traded stocks in
companies that do business with the city, and ended up selling many at a
loss.
The board does allow Bloomberg to invest in diversified mutual funds, New
York municipal bonds and broad-based, exchange-traded funds.
He files a separate financial disclosure report with the city board that
lists those investments, along with other major assets and income. Those
amounts are also represented by the same ranges.
That document, which was also provided to reporters, lists all of the homes
he owns: his primary residence on Manhattan's Upper East Side; a house in
London, two homes in upstate New York; a ski condo in Vail, Colo.; a house
in Bermuda; his foundation's building in Manhattan; a house with a stable in
Florida for his equestrian daughter; and a Manhattan condo for a woman whom
he is no longer dating.
The tax forms showed he paid wages of "G" for staff who run his households.
Declared presidential candidates are required to file personal financial
disclosure reports with the Federal Election Commission.
It is also tradition for mayoral candidates and mayors to disclose their tax
information.
Bloomberg scoffed at one point during his first mayoral race that the only
reason his rivals released their tax returns _ and he didn't _ was because
"they don't make anything."
