President Barrack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama earned $436,065 last year and paid $81,472 as total tax which forms 18.7 percent of their earnings, reads the 2015 tax return released before the filing deadline on April 11.
The return details also showed falling income for the Obamas, mainly due to slowing sales of the president's books. This also led to lower charitable donations coming from the White House this year.
The president is entitled to a yearly income of $400,000. The rest of the first family's income comes from royalties on the two books: Dreams from My Father and Audacity of Hope. His other book, Of Thee I Sing, is for children and the proceeds go to charity. This year the president made a net amount of $56,069 from his books, less expenses, which is almost $40,000 less than what he made in the previous year.
The 2015 tax report also shows that the Obamas paid $64,066 to charity, which is about 15 percent of their income. Most of the donation amounts ranged between $1,000 and $2,000, but the highest check of $9,066 went to Fisher House, a Chicago-based establishment that provides housing for the families of service members undergoing medical treatments at military hospitals.
They also paid $5,000 to Beau Biden Foundation, the organization that pays tribute to Vice President Joe Biden's son, whose sad demise last year was due to brain cancer.
The Obamas' total tax amount also included $7,743 as Alternative Minimum Tax along with $1,766, a surtax approved by the president himself under the health reform law. The couple also ended up paying $49,000 in state and local income and property taxes. They are currently due for a refund of $22,859 this year, which the Obamas are not refusing like they usually do.
Apart from a lower income in 2015, one more reason for not refusing the refund can be the fact that the first family is looking at a lot of expenses this year, especially once the president switches jobs and moves out of the White House. Last year, the couple reportedly took out $ 1 million from their investments, which hints at their preparation for capital expenses like home purchase and college tuitions for their daughters.
While not mandated by law, Barrack Obama follows the footsteps of a long string of presidents and even presidential candidates who release their tax returns for the public eye. A detailed report on the Obamas' 2015 Tax Returns is presented here.
Photo: Ben Stanfield | Flickr
