Biden uses release of 2023 tax returns to draw contrast with Trump

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden released their jointly filed 2023 tax returns on Monday, showing a federal adjusted gross income of $619,976 on which they paid $146,629 in federal income tax, an effective rate of 23.7 percent.

The White House announced the returns on the April 15 U.S. tax filing deadline, saying in a news release that “the longstanding tradition of annually releasing presidential tax returns should continue unbroken.”

That was a not-so-subtle jab at former president Donald Trump, Biden’s likely opponent in the 2024 election. Trump never voluntarily released his tax returns as a presidential candidate or as commander in chief, bucking a decades-old tradition for those seeking and occupying the nation’s highest office.

Biden is trying to use tax day to draw a contrast between his worldview and Trump’s in other ways as well. On Tuesday, the president plans to travel to Scranton, the northeastern Pennsylvania city where he was born, to deliver remarks on the tax code.

“Do you think the tax code should work for rich people or for the middle class?” his campaign said in a news release. “The President has made it clear what he thinks the answer is, and so has Donald Trump.”

The Trump campaign argues that the former president’s economic policies would be far better for working- and middle-class Americans than Biden’s.

While the Bidens are now millionaires, the president has long stressed his middle-class background, including his upbringing in Scranton and his family’s financial struggles when he was growing up. In his speeches, he often notes that he remained ensconced in the middle class well after he entered public life, telling crowds he “had the great pleasure of being listed as the poorest man in Congress for 36 years.”

The Bidens in 2023 contributed $20,477 to 17 different charities, including $5,000 to the Beau Biden Foundation, named in honor of the president’s late son. The first couple also donated to several churches they have attended during Biden’s time as president and to their home parish, St. Joseph on the Brandywine. They gave $1,000 to the Fraternal Order of Police.

The White House on Monday also released the 2023 returns for Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff. The couple reported a federal adjusted gross income of $450,299,and paid $88,570 in federal income tax, amounting to an effective rate of 19.7 percent.

They also paid $15,167 in California income tax, and Emhoff paid $11,599 in District of Columbia income tax. They contributed $23,026 to charity in 2023.