Biden Releases Tax Returns

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

15 September 2008

Pressure has increased on Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's presidential running mate, to reveal her tax history after Sen. Joe Biden, her Democratic opposite number, published ten years' worth of tax returns last week.

Biden's returns, which appear to live up to his claims to be the Senate's "poorest" member, show that the Delaware Senator and his wife reported adjusted gross income of $319,853 in 2007, receiving a refund of $6,514. Their 2007 return also showed a USD595 deduction for charitable contributions, in addition to a USD400 charitable deduction carried over from the previous year.

Most of Biden's income derives from his Congressional salary, which in 2007 was just under USD162,000, although he also received substantial income from book royalties (about USD70,000) as well as about USD20,000 from his teaching post at Widener University.

The highest amount of income reported by the Bidens during this ten-year period was in 2005, when their joint income amounted to USD321,379. But they have typically reported income of less than USD300,000 during this time, contrasting with the millions reported by come of his Senatorial colleagues, particularly John Kerry, whose net worth was recently estimated at almost USD314mn.

The fact that there are no tax skeletons in Biden's closet (although eyebrows have been raised at his less-than-generous charitable giving) suggests that the publication of his tax returns by the Obama camp is designed to put pressure on Palin to throw open her own accounts, especially amid an increasing number of reports over the taxable status of USD17,000 in per diem payments she received while residing at her home in Wasilla, Alaska, rather than at the Governor's residence some 600 miles away.

The Alaskan government has revealed that it does not deem such income as taxable. Tax experts are disputing its interpretation although case law on the subject is not conclusive.

Furthermore, with Obama, McCain and now Biden having revealed their tax returns to the nation, calls for Palin to do likewise are only likely to increase in volume as November's election draws nearer, and the campaigning gets dirtier.

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