2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumMore information on Bernie's tax situation.
Excerpts from National Memo:
In 2014, he reported an adjusted gross income of $205,271, most of it from his Senate salary.
What appears unusual are his itemized deductions, totaling $56,377, a whopping 27.4 percent of his income. People in his income class of $200,000 to $500,000 on average take 15.6 percent of their income as deductions, while those in the $100,000 to $200,000 range averaged 18.8 percent. Both averages are far below the Sanders itemization rate.
Sanders and his wife paid $27,653 in federal income tax, or 13.4 percent of their adjusted gross income.
When I tried to look more closely at Sanders taxes, Michael Briggs, the chief spokesman for his campaign, sent a statement that is simply not true, although he may not have understood why at first. In an email, Briggs wrote that Sanders and his wife Jane made public his federal and state income tax returns last year when he became a candidate for president and intends to do so again this year.
I wrote back to Briggs repeatedly, explaining that a Form 1040 is not a tax return. Perhaps that was unnecessary, since Briggs has more than two decades of experience as a political reporter and publicist for various U.S. senators. More than two decades ago on C-SPAN, he displayed a nuanced understanding of legal issues.
...To readers who think this sounds too harsh, Id say that when Sanders holds himself out as a paragon running a campaign built on the idea that he remains untainted by money from the rich and powerful he should be expected to walk the talk.
http://www.nationalmemo.com/why-hasnt-bernie-sanders-released-his-tax-returns/
mainer
(12,022 posts)The IRS calls it a tax return form. Many Americans file only a 1040.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf
DemonGoddess
(4,640 posts)because of the different attached schedules that everyone else who releases these documents attach, and release.
George II
(67,782 posts)....which are the crux of a tax return.
It also doesn't indicate all the sources of income, either.
question everything
(47,513 posts)and taxes paid, and the final line of whether you over paid or under paid, it would be enough.
But with the amount of deductions that he claimed, and if he also had interest and dividends, he has to show all supporting schedules: A, B, D - as a start.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)It doesn't show his deductions, for example.
jmowreader
(50,561 posts)The three individual tax forms are:
1040EZ - single filers and childless couples filing as Married Filing Jointly that don't have to use any schedules
1040A - single filers and couples with or without children, filing as any status, whose only schedule is Schedule B for interest income
1040 - everyone who needs to use any tax schedules above and beyond Schedule B
If you're a taxpayer whose situation fits Form 1040EZ and you file Form 1040 instead you are dumber than you look. You will get the exact same answer from either form but the 1040 is a lot harder to fill out because there are a hell of a lot more lines to it.
No sir, if you are filing Form 1040 it's because you have income and expenses that need explaining on other forms. What those other forms are is the Bernie Sanders $64,000 Question.
dflprincess
(28,081 posts)it doesn't necessarily mean you have any other income or expenses.
I have a friend who hit the limit a couple years ago. Her kids are grown and her house is nearly paid off so she had no other deductions to itemize so she takes the standard. Additional income is jut a small (under $1500 annually) dividend she gets that doesn't need additional forms.
question everything
(47,513 posts)Thus he should at least show Schedule A. And if he has dividends and interest, he needs to attach also Schedule B.
uponit7771
(90,348 posts)DemonGoddess
(4,640 posts)liberal N proud
(60,339 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)DrDan
(20,411 posts)mainer
(12,022 posts)Without any additional forms. If you're going to attack Bernie for this, then you're attacking a huge number of Americans who've only filed 1040s and will sympathize with him because you're attacking him for exactly what they do.
When his paperwork is released, I predict this issue will disappear into embarrassed and mysterious silence.
dsc
(52,166 posts)question everything
(47,513 posts)and about 700 self employment tax, so he needs to release Schedules A, C and SE. At least.
kstewart33
(6,551 posts)The document is attached to the 1040. The list is required so that the IRS can determine whether each qualifies as a legitimate deduction. Bernie has released the top summary sheet but no list.
CalvinballPro
(1,019 posts)jmowreader
(50,561 posts)He should be filing at least:
Schedule A (Itemized Deductions)
Schedule B (Interest Income)
Schedule C (Profit and Loss from Business - IIRC Bernie pays his wife as a political consultant)
Schedule D (Dividends)
probably Schedule E (Supplemental Income and Loss)
stopbush
(24,396 posts)Just another example of Senator Hypocrisy's penchant for calling the kettle black, then acting offended when people demand the same transparency from him that he demands of others.
Sanders has no integrity at all.
FlatBaroque
(3,160 posts)picture David Brock copulating with a hairy, brown rat.
MrMickeysMom
(20,453 posts)I get the picture.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)It's very odd to have 25 years of six-figure income, own multiple pieces of real estate, and claim to be worth less than $300k.
Vinca
(50,300 posts)I don't see anything so strange about it. From the tizzy everyone is in around here I assumed he was getting a bloody refund. Get a grip people.
fleabiscuit
(4,542 posts)Lucinda
(31,170 posts)snowy owl
(2,145 posts)stopbush
(24,396 posts)them look good.
Most likely, Sanders doesn't want people to see how rich he is and the fact that he's probably not at all charitable.
Just another nail in the Sanders-the-hypocrite coffin.
snowy owl
(2,145 posts)stopbush
(24,396 posts)People assume you have something to hide, even if there's nothing to hide.
Sanders himself makes such an assumption about Hillary's speeches to GS et al.
What's good for the gander...
virtualobserver
(8,760 posts)uponit7771
(90,348 posts)snowy owl
(2,145 posts)uponit7771
(90,348 posts)... taxes though, no one would let this go
snowy owl
(2,145 posts)libtodeath
(2,888 posts)Talk about desperation.
stopbush
(24,396 posts)when you are already massacring your opponent in delegates and the popular vote.
You need only toss a bit of dirt in response to the piles of dirt being tossed by your opponent, just to let people know you're not rolling over.
nolabels
(13,133 posts)Then to think someone would actually manage and live off of that same salary that same position rendered exclusively.
Just think how outrageous that is in our day and age.
Cal Carpenter
(4,959 posts)Why don't we ask him for his long-form birth certificate while we're at it?
I don't understand this obsession. He isn't making any income from questionable sources, which is what could have maybe triggered questions about his integrity. His itemized deductions are higher than the average household, but are they higher than the average Senator? I would think that would be a more meaningful point for the writer to address, unless, of course, it disproves his point...
I'm no expert on taxes, but isn't it possible that someone who essentially has to maintain two residences because of their work has more to itemize? That someone who may have a home office, travel expenses between DC and VT for work, and god knows what else may have more deductions than the average person with a regular day job?
Or maybe he had a bunch of energy efficient work done on his house. I got a big break on that during the year that I got new windows, a new roof, and added insulation to my house. It was way out of proportion to my rather low income because I used long-term savings to pay for it.
This whole thing is so weird. And I haven't heard *anyone* in real life express any concern about it. He has provided the proper, required financial disclosures every year he has been in office. There are no red flags. There is no obligation for him to present his full tax forms. This is just a red herring. I would think it would behoove those who oppose him to focus on things that actually put his integrity into question if they can find any. Or better yet, start phone banking and canvassing for your candidate so we don't have to take the chance of having as president a guy with (gasp) a high level of itemized deductions!11!
Algernon Moncrieff
(5,790 posts)Tierra_y_Libertad
(50,414 posts)fleabiscuit
(4,542 posts)It's a common Republican mistake that gets passed along.