Romney: Releasing tax returns would publicize his church tithe

Mitt Romney said recently that one of the reasons he’s distressed about disclosing his tax returns is that everyone would see how much money he and his wife Ann have donated to the Mormon church, and that’s a number he wants to keep private.

“Our church doesn’t publish how much people have given,” Romney told Parade magazine for its August 26 cover story.

“This is done entirely privately. One of the downsides of releasing one’s financial information is that this is now all public, but we had never intended our contributions to be known. It’s a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church.”