Bidens made $610K last year, tax forms show
WASHINGTON • U.S. President Biden, Vice-president Kamala Harris and their spouses released tax forms Friday showing they earned incomes and paid tax rates similar to those reported last year.
The Bidens reported a federal adjusted gross income in 2021 of $610,702 and federal income tax payments of $150,439, at an effective rate of 24.6 per cent.
Joe Biden earned $378,333 as president, and Jill Biden earned $67,116 from Northern Virginia Community College, where she has taught English for years. The president's salary is normally $400,000 a year, but Biden did not assume the presidency until Jan. 20 last year. The Bidens also earned $61,995 in royalties from their books, with the rest of their income coming from pensions, annuities, IRA distributions and Social Security benefits.
The first family donated just over $17,000 to 10 different charities, with the highest contribution of $5,000 going to the Beau Biden Foundation. The charity, which works to protect children from abuse, was set up in honour of Biden's late son who died of cancer in 2015.
With this year's documents, Biden has released 24 years of his tax returns and continues the tradition of presidents publicly disclosing their tax documents.
The White House touted Biden's track record Friday, saying in a statement that Biden was “once again demonstrating his commitment to being transparent with the American people about the finances of the commander in chief.”
Former president Donald Trump broke with the tradition by repeatedly refusing to release his tax returns both as a presidential candidate and as president. The former president said he was under audit and fought efforts by congressional Democrats and prosecutors to obtain those records.
In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled against Trump in favour of the Manhattan district attorney seeking his tax records.
Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, reported a 2021 federal adjusted gross income of $1,655,563 and federal income tax payments of $523,371, at an effective rate of 31.6 per cent.
Harris earned $215,548 in her role as vice-president and Emhoff earned $164,740 from Georgetown University, where he has taught at the law school. Emhoff also earned $582,543 from DLA Piper and Venable, the law firms he worked at as a partner before leaving his practice when Harris was elected vice-president.
Harris also made nearly $400,000 in profit from book sales, and the second family sold their San Francisco home for $860,000, resulting in a long-term capital gain of $319,082.
The second family donated just over $22,000 to charity in 2021, including gifts to Howard University, the University of South California and DC Central Kitchen. The Bidens and Emhoffs visited DC Central Kitchen just before Thanksgiving last year to assemble meal kits.