Joe and Jill Biden’s income fell from $985,223 to $607,336 last year, according to their tax return
Biden’s not-so blue-collar bucks: White House releases Joe’stax returns showing income drop from almost $1m in 2019 to $600K in 2020 after he left the lucrative after-dinner circuit for campaign
- White House released the Bidens’ tax returns on Monday afternoon
- They show an income of $607,336 in 2020, down from $985,233 in 2019
- Decrease reflects how Joe Biden gave up lucrative speaking gigs and teaching job to campaign full time
- Filling shows $260,000 of income came from pensions and annuities, plus $45,836 in social security benefits
- They paid $157,414 in federal income tax – at a rate of about 25.9%
- It is far less than the $11 million he earned in 2017 but would still put the couple in range of tax increases he is pushing for the country’s wealthiest
- Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff earned more than $1.8 million in 2020
President Biden and his wife saw their earnings plunge last year as he gave up lucrative speaking gigs and university teaching to campaign full time, reducing their income to $607,336, according to his 2020 tax return.
In previous years, he and first lady Jill Biden have declared earnings of more than $11 million including as much as $190,000 to deliver a speech.
Even so, it still means the Bidens would pay more tax under plans he is pushing for the country’s wealthiest people.
The Bidens’ tax return shows that $260,000 of their income came from pensions and investments, as well as $45,836 in social security benefits.
Most of the remainder came from Jill Biden’s work teaching at Northern Virginia Community College.
The Bidens income has plunged from a high of $11 million in 2017 to a little over $600,000 last year as Biden gave up lucrative speaking appearances to campaign full time
The Biden’s paid federal income tax of $157,414 giving a rate of 25.9%. Latest IRS data suggest the average rate is just over 14%
As a result they paid $157,414 in federal income tax – at a rate of about 25.9%.
The White House published the document on Monday afternoon with a not so subtle dig at Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump who refused to release his tax returns.
‘Today, the president released his 2020 federal income tax return, continuing an almost uninterrupted tradition,’ said the White House.
‘With this release, the President has shared a total of 23 years of tax returns with the American public.’
Biden campaigned on a promise of transparency to draw a comparison with Trump during the campaign.
Trump repeatedly claimed that he could not release his tax data while it was subject to an audit.
The Bidens’ tax return shows that $260,000 of their income came from pensions and investments, as well as $45,836 in social security benefits, with most of the remainder coming from Jill Biden’s job as an educator
Biden and Harris delivered an update on their COVID-19 response on Monday, appearing together indoors for the first time without masks
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff also released their tax returns on Monday.
They showed the couple had an income of more than $1.8 million, mostly from Emhoff’s position as a partner at the law firm DLA Piper.
They paid a little over $620,000 in federal income tax – a rate of 36.7%.
Like the Bidens, their income declined substantially from the previous year when they had a taxable income of more than $3 million.
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff declared an income of more than $1.8 million, down from more than $3 million in 2019
Harris and Emhoff paid a little over $620,000 in income tax in 2020
Previous records show how Biden’s income rocketed after leaving the White House in 2016 and he was able to cash in on his time as President Obama’s right hand man.
In 2017, the Bidens declared $11.1 million in earnings. That was almost double what they had made in the previous 18 years combined as the couple struck lucrative book deals and hit the speaking circuit.
A book deal for the couple’s memoir was reportedly worth $8 million and Biden also landed a teaching gig at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 2018, they had a combined income of $4.6 million, according to their returns released by the Biden campaign.
That figured dropped as soon as Biden launched his run for the presidency. In 2019, he took an unpaid leave of absence from the university and he and his wife declared an income of about $985,000.
This year’s income is still more than the $400,000 threshold Biden has set for income tax increases.
