Taxes: $4M Paid On $9.7M Earned
Stefanowski Releases Returns
After months of stalling that opened him up to comparisons to Donald Trump, Republican Bob Stefanowski released his federal and state tax return information for 2017 and 2016 on the second-to-last Saturday of the gubernatorial campaign.
The former corporate executive reported $9.7 million in income for 2017 on a joint filing with his wife, Amy Stefanowski, with the couple paying $4 million in federal and state income taxes.
Stefanowski paid the top rate of 6.99 percent in state income tax — for earners over $500,000 — in both 2016 and 2017.
The release of Stefanowski’s tax returns on his campaign website comes eight days
after Democrat Ned Lamont let members of the media inspect the last five years of his tax returns at a New Haven law office. Photographs and photocopies were not allowed, however.
It’s been a month since Oz Griebel, a petitioning candidate and former MetroHartford Alliance CEO, released his tax returns for 2017, 2016 and 2015.
Stefanowski’s two main rivals had been critical of him during the past several weeks, saying that he needed to be more transparent about his financial holdings and tax payments, especially since the thrust of his campaign is about phasing out the state income tax.
Both Lamont and Stefanowski received six-month extensions from the April 17 tax filing deadline this year, an option available to all filers.
Although Lamont’s wealth is estimated in the hundreds of millions from his telecommunications business, inheritance and the income of his wife, Annie Lamont, who started her own venture capital firm and files her taxes separately, Stefanowski reported a higher 2017 income than Lamont.
Lamont’s total was $5.3 million, compared with $9.7 million for Stefanowski, a former top executive for UBS Investment Bank, General Electric and the controversial payday lending company, Dollar Financial Group.
Griebel, a former Republican who ran for governor in 2010, reported $392,884 in 2017 income.
In 2016, Stefanowski got a refund of $137,015 on his federal income taxes, while he owed an additional $170,269 for 2017.
It’s unclear from Stefanowski’s tax summaries how much money he gave to charity during the past two years.
Lamont’s campaign has estimated that he’s given $2 million to $3 million to charity during the past five years.
Trying to tie Stefanowski to Trump has been a key element of Lamont’s strategy, including on the tax return issue.
Trump is the first president in decades who has refused to release his tax returns, which could be subject of a subpoena if Democrats win control of the U.S. House in next month’s midterm elections.