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Mitt聽Romney, one of the wealthiest candidates ever to seek the presidency, paid nearly $2 million in federal聽taxes聽on $13.7 million in income that he and his wife reported last year, his U.S. returns showed Friday. That came to an effective聽tax聽rate of 14.1 percent, lower than millions of middle-income Americans but actually more than he had to pay.

Most of聽Romney's聽income was from investment returns. That is why his rate was lower than taxpayers whose income was mostly from wages, which can be聽taxed聽at higher rates.

Romney's聽taxes聽have emerged as a key issue during the 2012 presidential race with President Barack Obama.Romney聽released his 2010 returns in January, but he continues to decline to disclose returns from previous years 鈥� including those while he worked at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he co-founded.

The Obama campaign and other Democrats have pushed for fuller disclosures, reminding the Republican candidate that his father, George聽Romney, released a dozen years of returns when he ran for president.

Overall, the聽Romneys' main聽tax聽return and separate forms for blind trusts totaled over 800 pages. The blind-trust income came from hedge funds and other complex investment vehicles. The couple also reported $3.5 million in income "from sources outside the United States," citing "various countries." Their forms included filings on holdings in Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and the Cayman Islands.

The Obama campaign accused聽Romney聽anew of profiting from millions invested overseas and "loopholes andtax聽shelters only available to those at the top."

Apparently hoping to resolve basic questions voters might have, the聽Romney聽campaign also released a letter from his accountants saying that in the 20 years prior to 2010 the聽Romneys聽paid an average annual effective rate of 20.2 percent, never lower than 13.66 percent. On average, middle-income families 鈥� those making from $50,000 to $75,000 a year 鈥� pay 12.8 percent of their income in federal聽taxes, according to Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation. But many pay a higher rate.

The former Massachusetts governor, whose wealth is estimated at perhaps $250 million, is aggressively competing with Obama for the support of middle class voters.

Obama's own聽tax聽return for last year showed that he and his wife, Michelle, paid $162,074 in federal聽taxes聽on $789,674 in adjusted gross income, an effective聽tax聽rate of 20.5 percent. Their income plunged from $1.7 million in 2010, with declining sales of the president's books. In 2009, the Obamas reported income of $5.5 million, fueled by the best-selling books.

The聽Romneys'聽tax聽bill could have been lower.

For the year, they claimed a deduction for $2.25 million of their $4.021 million in charitable contributions, said Brad Malt, trustee of the candidate's blind trust.

The聽Romneys聽gave $2.6 million in cash to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the documents show. They gave just over $2 million in non-cash charitable contributions 鈥� including donations of stock holdings in Domino's Pizza, Dunkin Donuts and Warner Chilcott 鈥� to a family trust.

They could have claimed more in deductions, Malt said, but the couple "limited their deductions of charitable contributions to conform to the governor's statement (n August, based on the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13 percent in income聽taxes聽in each of the last 10 years."

Romney聽seemed to be painted into a corner by that statement, which came in reaction to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's claim to have heard that the Republican had paid no聽taxes聽in some years.

Romney聽will surely be reminded by the Democrats that he also said in August, defending his right to pay no more聽taxes聽than he owed: "I don't pay more than are legally due, and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don't think I'd be qualified to become president."

He appears to be physically qualified by any measure.

The campaign released a separate report Friday 鈥� by聽Romney's聽longtime physician, Dr. Randall Gaz of Massachusetts General Hospital 鈥� that said he is healthy and ready to meet the rigorous demands of the presidency.

The report said聽Romney's聽heart appears healthy, and he takes a baby aspirin and medicine to treat high cholesterol to help keep it that way. He doesn't smoke or drink. And his resting heart rate is a low 40 beats per minute, in the range of well-trained athletes and reminiscent of President George W. Bush, who also had a low resting rate.

Romney聽is 6 feet 1陆 inches tall and weighs 184 pounds.

As for his聽taxes, the聽Romneys' 2011 rate was slightly above the 13.9 percent effective rate they paid for 2010 when their federal聽tax聽bill was about $3 million.

They paid federal聽taxes聽of $1,935,708 on income of $13,696.951 for last year, according to the returns filed Friday with the Internal Revenue Service. They had obtained a filing extension beyond the usual April 15聽taxdeadline. His campaign earlier estimated that he would pay about $3.2 million in聽taxes聽for the year, well above the $1.9 million actually paid.

Most of聽Romney's聽income is from investments held in a blind trust, and campaign aides have stressed that he makes no decisions on how his money is invested.

Most of the income for the year came from investments, which are now generally聽taxed聽at 15 percent whereas the top marginal rate for income from wages is 35 percent.

The聽Romneys聽reported $6.8 million in capital gains, such as from the sale of stocks and other securities, and $6.37 million from dividends and taxable interest.

Romney's聽vast fortune and his long association with Bain Capital have been much discussed this year.

Several聽tax聽law experts said Friday that his newly released聽tax聽returns would not be much help in resolving critics' questions about his sprawling finances 鈥� whether he used aggressive tax-deferral strategies, what might be the specifics and聽tax聽advantages of his numerous offshore investments, what was the source of his massive retirement account and what are the details behind his now-closed $3 million Swiss bank account.

Analysts said details about his investments could emerge only if聽Romney聽provided far more of his聽tax聽returns 鈥� including files dating back to his years at Bain, the private firm he left in 2001.聽Romney, who initially refused to disclose any聽tax聽returns, has drawn the line at providing those from the past two years.

"All the important compliance and policy questions relating to聽Romney's聽personal聽tax聽matters relate to the past," said Edward D. Kleinbard, a law professor at the University of Southern California and former chief of staff of Congress' Joint Committee on Taxation. "The issue has never been聽Romney's聽2011聽tax聽return 鈥� in fact, it is a distraction to the real issues."

Only multiple returns would provide details about聽Romney's聽$100 million retirement account and how it grew, Kleinbard said. He also said earlier returns would be crucial in knowing how often he paid gift聽tax聽on family trusts.

Joseph Bankman, a Stanford University law school professor and expert on聽tax聽law, said, "It's the Bain years we'd really need to know to have a full assessment of his聽tax聽strategies." Bankman said that the 2010 and 2011 returns "only raised these questions, but they can't provide real answers."

The聽Romneys聽applied a $1.5 million聽tax聽refund to their 2012 estimated聽tax聽payments.

The couple reported $190,350 in book royalties and speaking fees. And聽Romney聽also reported $260,390 in income last year from serving on various boards of directors.

Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and his wife Janna, whose returns were also released Friday by the聽Romney聽campaign, paid $64,764 in聽taxes聽on $323,416 of adjusted gross income in 2011, for an effective rate of 20 percent.

Just over half of their income came from Ryan's congressional salary. Other income flowed from rental real estate and other investments, including a trust inherited by Janna Ryan. They donated $12,991 to charity, including to the Boy Scouts of America

Associated Press writers Stephen Braun, Stephen Ohlemacher, Kasie Hunt and Philip Elliott contributed.