Here's one possible reason Mitt Romney's tax rate is so low. He paid his tithes to the Mormon Church using stock acquired cheaply through his old company, Bain. As a member of the Church, Romney is required to donate 10 percent of his income, but he chose to pay his tithes in stock that he was able to get a deep discount from companies Bain was restructuring. Donating stocks instead of selling them and donating cash would help Romney avoid taxes twice: he would pay no capital gains on the stock, and then he'd bee able to deduct the value of the donated stock from his taxable income.
Read it at Reuters
