海角大神

What Clinton鈥檚 2015 income tax return tells us

The Clintons are rich, pay a lot of taxes, and are more generous than average for people in their bracket. 

|
J. Scott Applewhite/AP/File
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her running mate Sen. Tim Kaine celebrate in a sea of falling balloons during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, July 28. On Friday, Aug. 12, former Secretary of State Clinton and Senator Kaine released their tax returns, and urged the Trump/Pence campaign to do the same.

Hillary Clinton released her聽聽today. The Clintons are rich, pay a lot of taxes, and are more generous than average for people in their bracket. They file returns that seem designed for intense scrutiny, which is to say, kind of boring. Interestingly, if Secretary Clinton's tax plan were the law, she'd pay a lot more tax. In contrast, if Donald Trump's plan were adopted, she'd pay much lower taxes.

For a tax geek, there鈥檚 a lot of information to be gleaned from the tax filings:

  1. 鈥淪peaking and writing鈥 is very lucrative for the Clintons.听They earned $10.2 million from those activities and Bill Clinton鈥檚 consulting.听This puts them in very exclusive company鈥攑eople with income over $10 million make up less than 0.01 percent of all income tax returns filed in 2013 ().
  2. For very, very rich people, the Clintons鈥 tax returns are really boring鈥攖he kind of tax returns that you might expect from a couple that expects intense scrutiny.听Their capital income comes from bank interest and dividends on a Vanguard index fund.听No sales of individual stocks; income from partnerships, S-corporations, or trusts; income from foreign investments.听
  3. In consequence, they pay a lot of income tax.听Their overall effective income tax rate is 31 percent.听Including self-employment taxes, it鈥檚 34 percent.听The average income tax rate (defined as income taxes divided by AGI) for people in the $10 million and over income bracket was 26.2 percent in 2013 (and they鈥檙e in the bottom of this elite group).
  4. The Clintons donated $1,042,000 to charity, the vast majority of it ($1 million) to the Clinton Family Foundation (not the controversial Clinton Foundation).听That is 9.8 percent of AGI, which is higher than the聽.听
  5. All of their contributions were in cash. Again, boring but safe. About half of donations by high-income people are noncash鈥攎ostly appreciated property鈥攚hich offers the additional tax benefit of avoiding capital gains tax. (In less prosperous times, the Clintons invited some ridicule by聽, including underwear, to charity.)
  6. Donating to their family foundation gives them flexibility about when the funds will actually be disbursed to charity and also makes their actual philanthropy a bit opaque.听All foundations must file 990 forms, which are made public, but with a lag.听The Clinton Family Foundation鈥檚 2013 form 990 is聽.听If you鈥檙e curious about who benefits from Clinton philanthropy, the list starts on page 28.
  7. At least in 2015, the Clintons would be unaffected by the 30 percent minimum tax on high-income people that Secretary Clinton聽鈥攖he so-called Buffett Rule.听However, other provisions in Clinton鈥檚 tax plan would raise their taxes significantly, especially the 5 percent surtax on AGIs over $5 million (for couples) and the 28-percent limitation on the value of itemized deductions (which total $2.2 million on the Clinton鈥檚 tax return).
  8. In contrast, Mr. Trump鈥檚 tax proposals would save the Clintons a lot of money on their taxes.听He鈥檇 tax all of their business income at a 15 percent rate鈥攕aving the couple about $2 million compared with current law.

So that could be a consolation prize if Secretary Clinton鈥檚 quest for the White House falls short.

This article originally appeared on .

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
海角大神 was founded in 1908 to lift the standard of journalism and uplift humanity. We aim to 鈥渟peak the truth in love.鈥 Our goal is not to tell you what to think, but to give you the essential knowledge and understanding to come to your own intelligent conclusions. Join us in this mission by subscribing.
QR Code to What Clinton鈥檚 2015 income tax return tells us
Read this article in
/Business/Tax-VOX/2016/0815/What-Clinton-s-2015-income-tax-return-tells-us
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
/subscribe