Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
California governor, wife report $1.2 million of 2018 income
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife reported more than $1.2 million in income during his final year as the state’s lieutenant governor, the majority of it from outside business interests.
Newsom made good on a campaign promise by allowing reporters to review his 2018 income tax filing on Friday. He also plans to release returns every year he’s governor. Newsom has not yet filed his 2019 taxes.
Last year Newsom, a Democrat, signed a first-in-the-nation law that would have required President Donald Trump to release his returns if he was to appear on the state primary ballot. The California Supreme Court ultimately rejected it as unconstitutional.
Newsom’s 2018 return showed nearly $394,000 in wages, of which about $151,000 was his state salary. His wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, is a filmmaker and actress with her own outside income, though the couple filed jointly.
Their $1.2 million in total income was reduced to about $973,000 in taxable income through various business and other deductions, including $25,683 in unspecified charitable contributions and declaring his four young children as dependents.
The family’s tax filing seems “pretty straightforward,” said Arthur “Kip” Dellinger, a certified public accountant and senior tax partner with Cooper, Moss, Resnick, Klein & Co.
Newsom donated about 2 percent to charity, which Dellinger said isn’t “demonstrably low” given his significant expenses, including the four children. Newsom paid more than $87,500 in household employment taxes, which his office said was for four staff who provided child care and other help around their home.
Newsom reported more than $57,000 in dividends and interest, but only $2,600 of that was tax-exempt interest.
“That (interest and dividend income) is not a lot of money, it’s not money that we would compare to wealthy people, really wealthy people. He’s probably not invested in a bunch of hedge funds, which sometimes get politicians in trouble,” Dellinger said. “Certainly with those kind of numbers there are no tax shelters that are involved in this.”