President Joe Biden restored a long-standing presidential tradition Monday by releasing his tax returns, publishing the documents online for the American public to read. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris released their tax returns for 2020 on Monday 

  • Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden reported a joint $607,336 in adjusted gross income for 2020, and paid $157,414 in federal income tax

  • The Bidens' federal income tax payment for 2020 amounts to 25.9%, and the most recent IRS data indicates that the average federal income tax rate is just over 14%

  • Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, reported a federal adjusted gross income of $1,695,225 last year

Along with his wife, first lady Dr. Jill Biden, the president reported a joint $607,336 in adjusted gross income for last year. The Bidens paid $157,414 in federal income tax, which amounts to around 25.9%.

The most recent IRS data indicates that the average federal income tax rate is just over 14%.

The Bidens donated $30,704 to 10 charities last year. The largest gift was $10,000 to the Beau Biden Foundation, a nonprofit focused on child abuse that is named after the president's deceased son.

The Bidens' 2020 federal income tax is a substantial drop from their payment of $287,693 to the government in 2019. The couple reported a slightly higher income of $985,223 that year, when they primarily earned money from book sales, speeches and positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Northern Virginia Community College. Those income opportunities diminished because of the campaign.

In a dig at Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, who declined to release his tax returns, the White House said the release was "continuing an almost uninterrupted tradition."

Biden campaigned on the transparency of his personal finances, releasing 22 years worth of tax filings ahead of the 2020 election. It was a direct challenge to Trump, who claimed for several years that an audit prevented him from releasing his taxes — even though the IRS had mandated for more than four decades that the tax returns of a sitting president and vice president be audited.

The New York Times later obtained the tax records of the reputed billionaire and reported that he paid just $750 in federal income taxes during his first year in the White House. IRS figures indicate that the average tax filer paid roughly $12,200 in 2017, about 16 times more than what the former president paid.

“You have not released a single solitary year of your tax returns,” Biden told Trump at one of their presidential debates. “What are you hiding?”

Trump claimed — without evidence — that he had prepaid his taxes and that he thought the $750 was a filing fee.

The IRS does not charge filing fees.

You can view the president and first lady’s tax returns here.  

Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, similarly released their 2020 tax returns on Monday. Together, the couple reported federal adjusted gross income of $1,695,225 last year. 

They paid $621,893 in federal income tax, coming in at nearly 36.7%. 

Emhoff, who is teaching law at Georgetown University, paid $56,997 in District of Columbia income tax. The couple paid $125,004 in California state tax, and contributed $27,006 to charity in 2020.

In 2019, Harris and her husband paid $1,185,628 in combined federal and state taxes on earnings of $3,018,127.

You can view the vice president and second gentleman’s tax returns here.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.