US President Obama Releases Tax Returns

United States President Barack Obama paid $162,074 USD in taxes, his returns show.

Obama and Vice President Biden released their tax returns Friday, which is certain to turn taxation into a platform during the campaign's re-election bid.

Biden paid $87,900 in total federal tax.

Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, filed their tax return jointly. They had an effective tax rate of 20.5% for their gross income of $789,674. Approximately half of their income came from President Obama’s presidential salary, while the other half came from his books. The couple also paid $31,941 in Illinois income tax.

Their income is down from the approximately $1.8 million they made in 2010, mostly due to the decline in book sales.

The tax returns for the President and Vice-President were posted on the White House website, where one can also find "Buffet" information centered on the homepage.

The “Buffet Rule,” named after legendary investor Warren Buffet, is a concept to have millionaires pay, at a minimum, a 30% of tax rate on earnings over $1 million.

The multi-billionaire chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, “...noted the absurd fact that he, as a billionaire under the current tax laws, pays actually at a lower tax rate than his secretary pays,” Biden said at a campaign event on Thursday.

“President Obama and I believe that it’s simply wrong to have a system that’s so riddled with loopholes and preferences that the wealthiest and most successful of all Americans often pay at a lower rate—at a lower rate of their taxes than average middle-class people do.”

The Obama campaign has pushed for likely-Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, to release tax returns from his days as the head of Bain Capital or his tenure as Massachusetts governor.

In January, Romney released his tax return for 2010, where he paid an effective tax rate of 13.9%. He also released an estimate for 2011, expecting a 15.4% rate for his income of $20.9 million.  Most of his income comes from prior investments, and the US tax code generally favors investment income over wage income.