US President Joe Biden reveals drop in income in 2020 tax return

18 May 2021, 11:43

US President Joe Biden has released his tax returns from the past year, revealing a fall in his income.

The Whitehouse shared both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' tax returns publicly, restoring a tradition that was paused during Donald Trump's presidency.

Prior to the release of the filings, the White House said: "Today, the President released his 2020 federal income tax return, continuing an almost uninterrupted tradition."

In the lead up to the filing, press secretary Jen Psaki said: "I would expect that we will continue to release the president's tax returns, as should be expected by every president of the United States."

Mr Trump was the only leader since the Watergate era to have kept his tax return private, claiming he was under audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The documents showed that the Bidens earnt $607,336 over the year and paid $157,414 in federal income tax, which was 25.9%.

This was a drop from the previous year, where the President and his wife made $985,223 from things such as book releases and speeches.

The couple donated $30,704 to different charities throughout 2020 as well, the largest sum going to the Beau Biden Foundation, which was named after the President's son who died in 2015.

Their financial disclosure form, also shared on Monday, revealed that they had assets of of between $1.2m and $2.88m.

Though there was a drop in income for the year of election campaigning, President Biden is currently earning $400,000 for his role at the White House.

As for Vice President Harris, she and the second gentleman made $1,695,225, paying $621,893 in tax and donating $27,006 to charity.

She received $359,000 in advance for her book called 'The Truths We Hold' and her husband worked at law firm DLA Piper.