GOP debate: Romney agrees to turn over his tax returns in April

Mitt Romney agreed to release his tax returns in April if he wins the Republican nomination despite a call from Rick Perry to release his statement within a week, as the Texas governor and Newt Gingrich plan to do.

“I looked at what has been done in campaigns in the past… they’ve tended to release tax records in april, in tax season,” Romney said.

{mosads}The former governor, who has refused to release his returns in former campaigns, said that he hadn’t originally planned to do so in this campaign either, but would likely do so in the interest of transparency.

His answer was a bit long and convoluted.

“I hadn’t planned on releasing tax records, because the law requires us to release all of our assets, of everything we own, that I’ve already release, it’s a pretty full disclosure,” Romney said. “But if that’s the tradition, I’m not opposed to doing that, time will tell, I anticipate most likely I’ll be asked to do that in April and I’ll do that.”

“I sort of feel like we’re showing a lot of exposure at that point,” Romney said.

Earlier in the debate, Perry said that Romney should turn over the returns “so the people of this country can see how you made your money. I think that’s a fair thing.”

“As Republicans, we cannot fire our nominee in September,” Perry noted, arguing Romney should turn over the information now “so the people of South Carolina can decide if we’ve got a flawed candidate or not.”

Romney avoided answering Perry, leading the moderators to return to the subject later in the debate, which was sponsored by Fox News.

Perry noted he has released his returns since he took the gubernatorial office in Texas. Gingrich has said he’ll release his returns on Thursday.