President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, reported earning $619,976 in adjusted gross income in 2023, according to their newly released tax returns.
The White House released the tax returns of the president and first lady late Monday afternoon, as well as returns for Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
The vast majority of the Bidens’ combined income — $400,000, to be exact— was attributed to President Biden’s annual salary, as set by Congress under President Bill Clinton.
As for Jill Biden, she reported earning $85,985 in 2023 through her teaching role at Northern Virginia Community College. She appears to have received a raise: while teaching in 2022, she made $3,650 less. The First Lady also reported $4,155 in additional income from book royalties.
The rest of Biden’s earnings came from taxable interest, pensions and annuities, Social Security benefits, and IRA distributions.
In total, the Bidens reported paying $146,629 in federal taxes.
Looking to Biden’s second-in-command, Harris, she and her husband reported earning $450,299 and paying $89,071 in federal taxes.
As vice president and president of the Senate, Harris reported earning $218,784 on her return. Emhoff reported making $174,994 in 2023 as a distinguished fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for Technology Law and Policy.
The VP and second gentleman paid $15,167 in California income taxes, and Emhoff paid $11,599 in District of Columbia income taxes.
A tale of two presidents
Though the Biden Administration has uploaded copies of Biden and Harris’ tax returns each year they’ve been in office, the previous president was not nearly as open with his finances.
During former President Donald Trump’s presidency, he repeatedly said he wasn’t allowed to release his own returns due to an ongoing IRS audit. The House Ways and Means Committee ultimately released several years of his in late 2022, showing Trump lost millions in 4 of the 6 years from 2015 to 2020.
In 2020, The New York Times notably reported that Trump only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017.
Upon releasing their tax returns, the White House noted this, saying that the release of Biden’s taxes reflected “his commitment to being transparent with the American people.”
Meanwhile, his son, Hunter Biden, is facing charges of tax evasion. Prosecutors say the president’s son avoided paying $1.4 million in taxes while maintaining a lavish lifestyle.
