The Romney-Ryan campaign released Paul Ryan’s tax returns for 2010 and 2011 late Friday on Mitt Romney’s website.
The returns showed Ryan and his wife, Janna, made a gross income of about $215,000 in 2010 and $323,000 in 2011. They paid an effective tax rate of 15.9 percent on their 2010 returns and 20 percent on their 2011 returns. Ryan amended his 2011 returns to add about $61,000 in income. Members of Congress make $174,000 annually.
Romney paid a lower 13.9 percent rate on his 2010 return despite pulling in $21.6 million in income, a number frequently highlighted by the Obama campaign, mainly because the vast majority of his income came from investments, not salary, and was therefore taxed under lower capital gains rates. Romney has released only an estimate for his 2011 taxes, but has said the final tax returns will be released before the November election.
President Obama and Vice President Biden have released 12 years of tax returns and have used Romney’s refusal to release more than two years’ worth of taxes as a cudgel during the general election fight.
According to a review of Obama’s 2010 returns by the New York Times, the president and first lady paid $453,770 in federal taxes on an income of $1,728,096.
TPM found in January that Romney paid far less in taxes than most recent presidential candidates (the exception was John Kerry). Romney initially said he paid around a 15 percent tax rate, a figure that he revised to “at least 13 percent” at a press conference this week. Whether it was 15 percent or 13 percent, Romney paid less than many Americans.
