Jeb Bush tax returns reveal $20m in income over past three years

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/30/jeb-bush-tax-returns-income

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Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate, recorded almost $20m in income in the last three years, tax returns released Tuesday by his campaign show.

The candidate has made about $29m in the seven years since he left the Florida governor’s mansion, and has accrued a net worth of between $19m and $22m, his campaign said.

The disclosures were part of a release of 33 years of federal income tax returns which the candidate posted on Tuesday to his web site, in a declaration of transparency. The Bush campaign said the 33 years of returns bested a record set by former Senate majority leader Bob Dole, who released 20 years’ worth when he ran for president.

The returns show that Bush has paid a substantial effective tax rate of about 36% on average, his camp said. In 2013, his effective federal tax rate was 40.1%.

That’s about three times the rate that the last Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, paid in 2011, according to returns Romney begrudgingly released in 2012 after months of public requests. Romney’s 2011 returns showed he paid 14% on a $13.7m income.

Bush’s income streams since leaving office have included real estate, consulting, speaking, shipping and energy, as well as the stock market.

“This release will show voters how I earned a living over the past three decades and how much of that living I had to give back to Uncle Sam. (Spoiler Alert: A LOT),” Bush said in a statement on his site.

He said that from 2007-2014, he and his wife, Columba, had donated $739,000 to charity.

The campaign said Bush would release a 34th year of returns, for 2014, when they are prepared.