WASHINGTON - United States President Joe Biden and his wife Jill released their federal tax return on Tuesday, showing the couple earned nearly US$580,000 (S$772,000) in 2022 and paid an effective federal income tax rate of 23.8 per cent.
The Bidens also donated roughly 3.5 per cent of their income, or US$20,180, to 20 charities, including one associated with US police unions.
The annual disclosure ahead of the deadline at midnight on Tuesday for most Americans to file their tax returns comes ahead of a 2024 presidential race in which Mr Biden is expected to seek a second, four-year term.
Such a contest could set up a rerun of the 2020 presidential election between Mr Biden, a Democrat, and Republican former president Donald Trump.
In contrast to Republicans, Mr Biden has proposed higher taxes on corporations and individuals making more than US$400,000 per year.
Trump broke with the tradition of presidents making their federal tax returns public, saying he was not able to do so while being audited by the Internal Revenue Service, even as the agency claimed he was free to release them.
The Bidens reported 2022 federal adjusted gross income of US$579,514 and paid US$137,658 in federal income tax. The previous year, Mr Biden’s first as president, they reported US$610,702 in income.
Mr Biden draws a US$400,000 wage as President of the United States. Dr Jill Biden earned US$82,335 from her job teaching English at Northern Virginia Community College.
The remainder of their income is drawn from investment interest, pensions, annuities, distributions from retirement accounts and Social Security, as well as a corporation that collects their book royalties, according to the joint tax return.
Their charitable donations included contributions to churches and organisations focused on helping children and first responders, including US$2,000 in cash to an organisation identified as the “Fraternal Order of Police Foundation”.
The National Fraternal Order of Police, the biggest US officers’ union, endorsed Trump in 2020 and has opposed many of Mr Biden’s and other Democrats’ proposed reforms in the aftermath of the murder of unarmed black man George Floyd in 2020 in the custody of a former Minneapolis police officer.
Their charitable organisation, the National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation, holds an annual memorial service for law enforcement officials who die in the line of duty, which Mr Biden has addressed as President.
“The National Fraternal Order of Police Foundation does important work serving the families of officers who have given their lives in the line of duty,” said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.
“President Biden recognises the sacrifices made by fallen officers and their families, including when he speaks at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service.”
Vice-President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, reported federal adjusted gross income of US$456,918, paying US$93,570 in federal income tax for an effective federal income tax rate of 20.5 per cent.
The income included US$219,171 in salary paid to Ms Harris by the US Senate, US$62,870 from her books, and US$169,665 earned by Emhoff at Georgetown University Law Center where he teaches.
They contributed roughly 5 per cent of their income, or US$23,000, to charity, according to the joint return. REUTERS
