Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, said they paid an effective federal income tax rate of 34.2 percent in 2015, as her campaign sought to draw a contrast with her Republican rival, Donald Trump.
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Hillary Clinton, who announced her candidacy in April 2015, made $1.48 million from speaking engagements in 2015, a sharp decrease from the almost $10.5 million she generated the year before.
“Here’s a pretty incredible fact: there is a non-zero chance that Donald Trump isn’t paying *any* taxes”, Ms Clinton tweeted, minutes after releasing her own returns.
This marks the 39th year the couple that the couple has released their tax returns to the public.
“Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine continue to set the standard for financial transparency”, said a Clinton campaign spokeswoman, who called on Trump to do the same.
“He has failed to provide the public with the most basic financial information disclosed by every major candidate in the last 40 years”, she added.
Trump, a NY businessman, and his lawyers have cited an audit by the Internal Revenue Service as a reason for his refusal to release his returns. Others have suggested that the tax documents would reveal business interests that could be problematic if he were elected.
The Trump campaign dismissed Clinton’s action, saying in a statement: “This document release is nothing more than an attempt at distraction and misdirection” from controversy about her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. He has said he will release them once the audit is over.
Hillary Clinton attends a campaign rally in Kissimmee, Florida, on Monday.
Trump’s critics, including 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other fellow Republicans, have said his refusal raises questions about his net worth, his charitable contributions, his business dealings and various other ties, including with Russian Federation.
The Clintons had a total income in 2015 of about $10.7 million.
The campaign posted her 2015 returns and those of her running mate, Tim Kaine, on her website midday Friday, along with past returns for both candidates dating back roughly a decade. The Clinton’s 2015 income was a little more than a third of what it was in 2014 ($28.3 million).
The Clintons even paid a higher tax rate past year than the average effective federal tax rate of 33.4 percent for the top 1 percent of taxpayers.
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The couple also generated income from book sales and Bill Clinton’s consulting business.
