NPR National Public Radio : More Filth, Dirt and Garbage around Mitt Romney : Marriott Hotels lost in court with the IRS Internal Revenue Service, the company was forced to pay $29 million because of cheating in Taxes and Romney was Director and on board organizing the cheat

.
Mitt Romney was the chairman of Marriott's audit committee :

Excerpts :   

Romney was equally aggressive toward taxes in the business world. For years, he was a director of Marriott International, the hotel company founded by Willard Marriott.  

Law professor Ed Kleinbard of the University of Southern California, who worked on Wall Street and served as chief of staff for Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation, says Marriott had a reputation.

"Marriott was always a tax shelter promoter's first call," he says. "Marriott was one of those companies that just loved to buy tax shelters."

Bloomberg reported this year on one Marriott tax shelter, known as "Son of BOSS." It involved creating paper losses to offset taxes on real income. The Internal Revenue Service challenged the shelter, and Marriott lost in court. Judges called the shelter "fictitious" and a "scheme," and the company was forced to pay $29 million. Kleinbard notes that when the shelter was adopted, Romney was the chairman of Marriott's audit committee.

"It's the job of the chair of the audit committee of Marriott to say, 'Hey, wait a minute, just because we have an opinion from Winkin', Blinkin' and Nod saying that this is a terribly clever idea, I need to apply some common sense as opposed to just signing on the bottom line,' " Kleinbard says.

A statement from Marriott says the company only engages in tax deals it believes are lawful.

"Marriott only engages in transactions that we believe are in accordance with the tax code and that we think will create shareholder value," it said.

Kleinbard sees a pattern for Romney of cutting tax corners. Asked about his taxes in that NBC debate, Romney sidestepped.

"The real question is not so much my taxes, but the taxes of the American people," Romney said.

Romney, whose 2010 tax rate was less than 14 percent, says he wants to overhaul the tax code, which he calls "far too complex," "far too intrusive" and "far too great."

NPR National Public Radio
Tax Professionals Scrutinize Mitt Romney's Returns
by Scott Horsley
July 20, 2012

Tax Professionals Scrutinize Mitt Romney's Returns


**********************;