Mitt Romney Keeps Millions in Cayman Islands

Campaign defends offshore investments
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2012 1:03 AM CST
Updated Jan 19, 2012 7:55 AM CST
Romney Keeps Millions in Cayman Islands
Mitt Romney speaks to reporters after campaigning at the Florence Civic Center in Florence, South Carolina earlier this week.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Yet more money trouble for Mitt Romney: His campaign has been put on the defensive by reports that he has millions of dollars stashed in a Caribbean tax haven. Romney has around $8 million invested in a dozen funds based in the Cayman Islands, and another investment worth between $5 million and $25 million listed as having been domiciled in the Caymans, ABC reports. Romney's campaign calls the ABC report "flat wrong" and says Romney is paying the same amount of tax he would if the funds were based in the US.

Experts say that although Romney is still subject to US taxes, investing in the Caymans still offers financial benefits. Using an offshore investment vehicle helps investors "avoid a whole series of small traps in the tax code that ordinary people would face if they paid tax on an onshore basis," a Washington lawyer specializing in offshore banking says. Any savings made will be revealed when Romney releases his tax returns, which he says he will probably do in April. (More Cayman Islands stories.)

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