WASHINGTON — President Biden and first lady Jill Biden released their annual tax returns Monday, showing they brought in roughly $620,000 in income last year — a bump of just over 7% from 2022 that puts them just beneath the top 1% of earners nationally.
The majority of the Bidens’ income, on which they paid 23.7% in federal taxes — 0.1% down from 12 months ago — was from the president’s $400,000 salary, followed by the first lady’s nearly $86,000 in pay for teaching English at Northern Virginia Community College.
The couple also reported more than $35,000 in pensions, $64,000 in Social Security payments and more than $39,000 in interest income.
In a statement, the White House made an unsubtle jab at former President Donald Trump, who refused to release his returns during his four years in office, claiming he was being audited.
“President Biden believes that all occupants of the Oval Office should be open and honest with the American people, and that the longstanding tradition of annually releasing presidential tax returns should continue unbroken,” the White House said.
The tax returns report $20,477 in charitable contributions, including $1,000 to the Fraternal Order of Police.
The first couple enjoy many perks of high office in addition to the president’s salary — such as free housing and transportation, including frequent long weekends at their Delaware homes.
Some expenses that might otherwise be paid by an individual also are picked up by others.
The Democratic National Committee paid Biden’s legal fees during special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation of the president for allegedly mishandling classified documents from his vice presidency and Senate years.
Hur ended his 13-month-long probe in February with a 388-page report saying he found evidence that Biden willfully mishandled records.
However, Hur recommended against criminal charges on the grounds that a jury likely would not vote to convict the president, whom the special counsel suggested would present himself as an “elderly man with a poor memory.”
Prior Biden tax returns have been more controversial.
Joe and Jill Biden routed more than $13 million in income from book sales and speaking fees through S corporations in 2017 and 2018 to avoid paying a 3.8% Medicare tax on most of the haul — leading to Republican allegations that the Bidens could owe up to $500,000 in back taxes.
