President Candidates Disclose 2007 Tax Returns

May 30th, 2008 at 08:29am Wendy Blair

 Wendy M. Blair, CFSC 

The President, Vice President, and the presidential candidates all released their 2007 tax returns.  It took Bill and Hillary a little bit of time, but when you pay in millions – you wait until the last minute to file!  Personally, I find the numbers just fascinating and if you haven’t seen them, I hope you do too! 

• President and Mrs. Bush filed a joint return with $719,274 of taxable income.  Their income was from his salary and investment income from a blind trust.  They had a tax liability of $221,635 and made charitable contributions of $165,660.
• Vice President Cheney and wife, Lynne, had taxable income of approximately $2.5 million and a tax liability over $600,000.  The Cheney’s income was comprised of his salary, Mrs. Cheney’s book royalties, and pensions.  The Cheneys donated $166,547 to charity in 2007.
• Senator Hillary Clinton reported income from her Senate salary and interest on investments.  She and former president, Bill Clinton, also received substantial amounts from his speeches ($10.1 million), from his book royalty ($4.4 mil), and from investments ($6.5 mil).  Their total income for 2007 was over $20 million.  They donated approximately $3 million to charities which reduced their tax liability.
• The Obamas received salary from his position as Senator and Michelle’s employment salary.  The Obamas also had book royalties of approximately $4 million.  Their AGI was $4,139,965 and they made charitable donations of $240,370.
• Finally, John McCain filed a separate return and reported AGI of $386,527.  This was from his Senate salary and other investments.  He reported charitable gifts of $105,467.  John’s wife Cindy, a principal executive in the family-owned business, did not release her separately filed tax return.

Entry Filed under: Tax