Obama Win Could Cost Romney $5 Million in Taxes

If Mitt Romney comes up short this November, he may very well receive an annual reminder of his failure for the next four years—courtesy of the IRS.

According to an analysis from two research groups (one liberal, one conservative), the presumptive GOP nominee stands to pay $5 million more a year in taxes under a hypothetical second Obama term than he would if he had his own say in the nation's tax code.

The Associated Press explains that, based on the two candidate's most recent tax returns, Romney would pay an effective rate of 34 percent under Obama's proposals and only 13 percent if his own were put in place. (Of course, either man would still need to convince Congress to approve their reforms.)

Obama, meanwhile, would also see his effective tax rate fall if Romney had his way, from 28 percent under his own plan to 18 percent under his rival's. While that drop isn't as big as the one the former governor would experience, it would nonetheless save the president about $90,000 a year come Tax Day.

While the candidate's hypothetical tax bills are somewhat trivial in the larger budget picture, they nonetheless illustrate how the rich would fare under their competing tax proposals. You can check out the specifics of the tax proposals, and the candidate's potential tax bills, over at the AP, which has a larger breakdown of the research from the liberal-leaning Citizens for Tax Justice and conservative-leaning Tax Foundation.