A common refrain I’ve heard from Bernie supporters today when asked about Bernie releasing his tax returns has been “but he has! Two minutes of Googling and I got this!”
They typically link to a Washington Post story “On tax returns, Sanders and wife report $200,000 in income — mostly from his Senate post.”
Funny thing though, is that I don’t think these Sanders supporters actually read the WaPo article, at least not carefully. It’s basically all the info WaPo can glean from a single, incomplete tax filing from 2014. Incomplete in that it was only a partial return, and did not include Schedules A and C, which detail sources of income and deductions.
So, fine, we don’t yet know many details from this single, paltry filing. Here’s what we do know:
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who rails against the “billionaire class” on the presidential campaign trail, reported relatively modest income last year: just more than $200,000 on a tax return filed jointly with his wife.
Ok, so now we know what their gross income was – around $200K. But, then the article reports their taxable income, which came down to $140,994. That means Bernie and Jane Sanders had approximately $60,000 in deductions. In the chart, you can see what the average itemized deductions are for various income brackets.
The average deductions for an adjusted gross income between $200-$250K are $39,470. Why are Sanders deductions so high?
WE DON’T KNOW, as he has not released this portion of his tax returns.
Next up is the amount of taxes Sanders paid in 2014. Turns out, he didn’t pay very much. Again, from the WaPo article:
According to his tax forms, Sanders and his wife paid $27,653 in federal income tax and another $7,903 in Vermont income tax last year. The couple paid an effective tax rate of 19.6 percent on their federal taxable income of $140,994.
This is from The Tax Foundation:
Table 1. 2014 Taxable Income Brackets and Rates
|
Rate
|
Single Filers
|
Married Joint Filers
|
Head of Household Filers
|
10%
|
$0 to $9,075
|
$0 to $18,150
|
$0 to $12,950
|
15%
|
$9,076 to $36,900
|
$18,151 to$73,800
|
$12,951 to $49,400
|
25%
|
$36,901 to $89,350
|
$73,801 to $148,850
|
$49,401 to $127,550
|
28%
|
$89,351 to $186,350
|
$148,851 to $226,850
|
$127,551 to $206,600
|
33%
|
$186,351 to $405,100
|
$226,851 to $405,100
|
$206,601 to $405,100
|
35%
|
$405,101 to 406,750
|
$405,101 to 457,600
|
$405,101 to $432,200
|
39.6%
|
$406,751+
|
$457,601+
|
$432,201+
|
Source: Internal Revenue Service
According to his taxable income, married filing jointly, his marginal tax rate should be 25%. His effective tax rate is 19.6%, and as I was just informed in the comments, that’s not so far out of line.
But again, WE DON’T KNOW the details.
Until he releases his full tax returns – the last 5 years should suffice – we can’t assume anything about the financial integrity of the man who wants to be leader of the free world. We expect all candidates to release their tax returns in presidential elections, because it speaks to how a candidate conducts his or her life and is relevant to the public.
And one final thought: I am appalled at his “blame Jane” excuse this morning on SOTU. She is supposed to be his wife, partner and aspiring First Lady. I find it repulsive that he’s trying to use her as a scapegoat on this issue.