I’m not sure what people are hoping to see on Romney’s tax return. Everyone already knows he is very wealthy. Are they hoping to find that he owes the IRS or has other tax problems? He’s probably just waiting for the last possible minute to file (that would be 11:59pm on April 17th this year) like any other tax-loathing American would do. If it’s prior year tax returns that they are hoping to see then he still has some time before he could be criticized for going against history and tradition.
Romney’s running mates are pushing him to release his tax records sooner than later because they think that whatever is revealed in his taxes may have an influence on how people vote. Presidential candidates are not required to make their tax returns public, but they have traditionally done so . . . usually around tax time.
I looked at what has been done in campaigns in the past . . . They have tended to release tax records in April or tax season . . . And if I become our nominee, and what’s happened in history is people have released them in about April of the coming year, and that’s probably what I would do.
~ Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, speaking at a Republican presidential debate on January 16, 2012
See CNN story for a list of party nominees in the last few elections and when they released their tax records.