Bernie Sanders publishes 10 years tax returns and details the millionaire status

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders released a 10-year tax return list on Monday, citing his growing status as a millionaire, fueled by a sharp rise in royalties from book royalties since the lost defeat. of 2016 at the White House.

Sanders, an American senator who regularly fights against "millionaires and billionaires," said the revenues have been adjusted to protect their wealth and power. They generated adjusted gross income of $ 561,293 in 2018, $ 1,131,925 in 2017 and $ 1,062,626 in 2016.

Sanders increased his Senate salary with book royalties for each of these years, particularly in 2016 and 2017, when he earned more than $ 800,000 each year in royalties. Sanders has published three books since the beginning of his first tour of the White House, including best sellers "Our Revolution" and "Where We Go From Here".

In 2009, his first year of returns, Sanders released Monday adjusted gross income of $ 314,742.

Sanders had been facing increasing pressure for the release of his taxes, critics claiming that the millionaire status of the democratic socialist was undermining his populist economic message. He did not apologize for his financial welfare, recently stating in the New York Times that "if you write a bestseller, you can also become a millionaire."

On Monday, Sanders took a more measured tone by posting his statements, referring to his education in a Brooklyn family with limited financial resources.

"These tax returns show that our family was lucky. I am very grateful for that because I grew up in a family that was living paycheck and I knew the stress of economic insecurity, "Sanders said in a statement accompanying the statements.

& # 39; TRANSPARENCY & # 39;

Interest in presidential candidates and their taxes has increased since Republican President Donald Trump broke decades of tradition during the 2016 campaign by refusing to publish his statements – a position he has maintained since entering the White House.

Several of the candidates for the growing number of Democracy 2020 candidates, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, as well as Governor Jay Inslee of Washington, have released their 2018 report in recent weeks. Most other Democratic candidates have pledged to do the same soon.

But the question had become more pressing for Sanders, who had published only one year of results during his 2016 campaign, while he was quickly enjoying a favorable position in polls and fundraising. of funds among Democrats looking for the 2020 bid to challenge Trump.

"As a strong supporter of transparency, the senator hopes that President Trump and all Democratic primary candidates will disclose their tax returns," Sanders campaign director Faiz Shakir said in a statement.

Sanders has been criticized for publishing only his 2014 statements during his first democratic battle with Hillary Clinton in 2016, a millionaire to whom he has often ridiculed for making paid speeches on Wall Street.

Tax returns published on Monday indicated that Sanders was paying an effective tax rate of 26% on its adjusted gross income in 2018. Its effective tax rates in 2016 and 2017, its other years of high pay, were respectively 35% and 30%.

As part of its political agenda, Sanders proposed a steep increase in the estate tax, lowering the threshold from $ 11 million to $ 3.5 million, and imposing a tax rate of 77% on the portion of estates worth more than $ 1 billion.