(The Hill) — President Biden and first lady Jill Biden made a combined income of $610,702 last year while Vice President Harris and her husband made more than $1.65 million, according to documents published by the White House on Friday based on the couples’ 2021 tax returns.
The president and his wife paid an effective federal income tax rate of 24.6 percent, the documents showed. Those figures are comparable to 2020, when the Bidens earned $607,336 with an effective federal income tax rate of 25.9 percent before taking office.
“With this release, the President has shared a total of 24 years of tax returns with the American public, once again demonstrating his commitment to being transparent with the American people about the finances of the commander in chief,” the White House said in a statement.
The Bidens’ tax returns showed Joe Biden earned $378,333 as president, a prorated amount of the annual $400,000 salary the president receives since he did not take office until Jan. 20 last year.
First lady Jill Biden earned $67,116 in her job as a professor at Northern Virginia Community College. The president and first lady also reported earnings of $61,995 on royalties from books.
The Bidens donated $17,394 across 10 different charities, the White House said, with the largest contribution a $5,000 gift to the Beau Biden Foundation. The charity, named after the president’s late son, focuses on protecting children from the threat of abuse.
The president and first lady also released their state income taxes, which showed they paid $30,765 in Delaware income tax. The first lady also reported paying $2,721 in Virginia income tax as a result of her job in the commonwealth.
Meanwhile, Vice President Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, had a combined income of $1,655,563 in 2021, according to their tax returns released Friday. The documents show the second couple paid an effective federal income tax rate of 31.6 percent and paid $523,371 in federal income tax.
The figures for the second couple are roughly the same as in 2020, when they made a combined income of just under $1.7 million.
Harris earned $215,548 in her role as vice president, a prorated amount of the annual $230,700 salary vice presidents make, and made $400,000 from book sales. Emhoff earned $582,543 for his work as a lawyer at the law firms DLA Piper and Venable, which he left early in 2021 when Harris was sworn in as vice president. He also made $164,740 teaching a class at Georgetown University’s Law School.
Harris and her husband donated $22,100 to charity. Additionally, their state income taxes showed they paid $120,517 in California income tax and $2,044 in New York income tax. Emhoff individually also paid $54,441 in Washington, D.C., income tax.
Biden has released his tax returns each of his first two years in office, and he did so while campaigning for president. Former President Trump broke with decades of tradition in refusing to release his tax records as a candidate or while in office, claiming he was under audit throughout. Experts repeatedly noted he could have released his returns regardless of whether he was under audit.
