Top Republicans stay quiet on release of their tax returns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, offered this year's hopefuls advice about a hard-learned lesson:

Trump, who broke a promise in 2012 to disclose his returns if Obama produced his long-form birth certificate, said in January that he was preparing to release his "big returns."

The documents — along with separate financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission— showed little in the way of assets and an income mostly limited to his $174,000 Senate salary and a $5,000 annual pension from being mayor of Burlington, Vermont, from 1981 to 1989.

Interpreting Trump's wealth likely won't be easy without access to the tax returns filed by his corporate entities, which Trump is unlikely to provide.

The Texas senator released five years of tax returns in January of 2012, revealing that the conservative Christian candidate and his wife had donated less than 1 percent of their $5 million income to charity.

Romney's tax returns raised unpleasant questions about preferential tax policies for the rich and his use of offshore investment vehicles — as well as a protracted debate over whether he should release more information.

There is no legal requirement to share tax returns with the public, but every major party nominee since 1976 has done so — often well-before winning the nomination.