Newt Gingrich: I Pay '31 Percent' in Income Tax

By Ivana Kvesic, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, January 19, 2012

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich came out on Wednesday to announce that in 2010 he paid 31 percent of his income to the federal government.

Gingrich said that he hopes to release his 2010 tax returns on Thursday to show the American populace that his taxes were in line with the federal tax rate for the top one percent of taxpayers in 2010, unlike his contender Mitt Romney.

The move on behalf of Gingrich is an attempt to push his widely popular republican contender, Mitt Romney, into a corner that will force him to answer speculation surrounding the percentage of his tax payouts.

Republican contenders have been questioning Romney’s tax burden following his own assessment this past Saturday when the former Massachusetts governor estimated that he paid around 15 percent of his incomes in taxes.

Romney has not made his tax information public as of yet and it remains unclear how Romney will respond to Gingrich’s tax push, but even his supporters, including New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, are urging Romney to release the information.

Romney has previously implied that he would make his 2011 tax information public if he manages to secure the republican nomination for the 2012 presidential race.

“My goal is not to raise Mitt Romney’s taxes, but to let everyone pay Romney’s rate,” Gingrich told a crowd at Christ Central Community Center in Winnsboro, S.C. on Wednesday.

South Carolina voters are due to cast their ballots on Saturday.

Gingrich’s tax claims came on the heels of support from former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Tuesday.

Palin urged voters in South Carolina to support the former House speaker in the primary.

“If I had to vote in South Carolina, in order to keep this thing going, I’d vote for Newt and I would want this to continue,” Palin told Fox News.

Palin has not officially endorsed Gingrich, but rather the former Alaska governor is urging voters to keep him in the race so that there can be more “vetting” of candidates to ensure that the Republican Party nominates the most eligible candidate for the 2012 race.