See what they paid: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris release 2019 tax returns
Democratic nominee Joe Biden and running mate Kamala Harris released their latest tax returns ahead of Tuesday night’s presidential debate, showing that the Democratic candidates and their spouses paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes to the federal government in 2019.
The disclosures come as President Trump, whose family owns hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, faces criticism for reportedly only paying $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and again in 2017, according to tax records obtained by the New York Times. Trump has broken with longtime presidential tradition and has refused to release his returns.
Both of the Democrats had released their previous years’ tax returns during the primary contests. The records show that both Biden and Harris have risen to levels of affluence that most Americans will never attain, but neither Democrat has financial interests that remotely compare to the size, complexity or the controversiality of the president’s extensive business holdings.
News of Trump’s tax evasion plays to Biden’s ‘Scranton-vs.-Park Ave.’ campaign. It won’t upend the race, but it’s another hurdle for Trump.
Former Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill, reported paying nearly $300,000 in federal taxes last year on adjusted gross income of $985,233, according to the newly released income tax returns.
The Bidens paid an additional $94,349 in state and local income taxes and $17,368 in property taxes.
Their income last year included $135,116 from the University of Pennsylvania, where Joe Biden was Benjamin Franklin Presidential Practices professor until April 2019, and $73,286 from Jill Biden’s work as a community college professor.
The couple’s income also included $195,199 in pensions and annuities and $52,595 in Social Security benefits. Joe Biden is 77 years old, and Jill Biden is 69.
The couple received $53,384 last year from CelticCapri Corp. and $175,319 from Giacoppa Corp. Both are personal corporations owned by the Bidens.
In a separate federal candidate disclosure filing, the former vice president reported receiving honoraria through CelticCapri for speeches he gave in both 2018 and 2019. They included $181,000 from Eminent Series Group LLC for a November 2018 speech in Phoenix and $134,933 from the Performing Arts Center Authority for a January 2019 speech in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Trump hopes Tuesday night’s debate will revive his flagging campaign, but new revelations about his taxes and voter discontent over the virus will make it tough.
Jill Biden reported $108,363 in speaking fees paid through Giacoppa Corp., including $45,948 from SAP North America for a November 2018 speech in Newtown Square, Pa.
The Bidens reported $14,700 in charitable donations. They also reported $15,976 in mortgage interest payments.
California Sen. Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, jointly reported $3,095,590 in gross adjusted income from 2019, with a federal income tax bill of $1,054,847.
Most of the couple’s financial firepower — and their tax bill — is due to Emhoff, a Los Angeles entertainment lawyer who reported $2.8 million in total income, primarily for his work for DLA Piper, a Century City firm that Emhoff joined as partner in 2017. Emhoff also reported partnership income of $115,258 from his previous firm, Venable LLP.
Apart from her salary as U.S. senator, Harris reported $464,500 in income and $199,675 in expenses for her work as a writer. As the 2020 presidential primary picked up speed, Harris published a book called “The Truths We Hold.”
Harris and Emhoff reported donating $35,390 to charity in 2019.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
