CNN reports the White House released the 2020 tax returns of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tax Day, a level of transparency that was abandoned throughout Donald Trump’s one-term in office.
Joe and wife Jill Biden, who filed jointly, owed $157,414 in federal income tax after reporting an adjusted gross income of $607,336. They paid $162,063, and received a refund of $4,649. “The Vice President and the Second Gentleman reported federal adjusted gross income of $1,695,225. They paid $621,893 in federal income tax, amounting to a 2020 effective federal income tax rate of 36.7 percent,” the White House said of Harris and husband Doug Emhoff.
Trump routinely provided a litany of excuses for why he couldn’t and/or wouldn’t release his yearly tax returns. They was, of course, his under audit claim, however, that doesn’t prevent someone from doing so. He hinged his compliance to the tax return tradition to the twice-debunked Hillary Clinton email story. He even said he refused because Americans simply didn’t care.
In September 2020, the New York Timesreport probably dispelled that theory when it was revealed that Trump paid a meager $750 in federal taxes in 2016 and 2017. To make matters worse, Trump reportedly managed to avoid paying a penny in 10 of the previous 15 years.
The White House’s statement included a veiled mention of Trump’s excuse-riddled reasoning for keeping his tax returns under wraps, saying, “Today, the President released his 2020 federal income tax return, continuing an almost uninterrupted tradition.”
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