Tax Returns: Clintons Cleared $10.6 Million In 2015

Very clearly, this is a move meant to pressure Trump, as her campaign site’s related blog entry is titled, “Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine release tax returns while Donald Trump defies decades-old tradition of disclosure”.

The filing shows that the Clintons paid a federal tax rate of 34.2 percent in 2015.

While it’s normal for presidential candidates to release their tax returns, the Clintons are also now trying to call attention to Trump’s refusal, thus far, to do so himself. The Clinton family returns for 2000-2006 were released during her 2008 campaign.

A new poll released Friday by NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist showed Donald Trump trailing Hillary Clinton by crushing margins in four key swing states.

The tax release is part of an effort to undercut Trump’s character by questioning the NY businessman’s record. A lower income would undermine his image as a successful businessman. The Clintons have disclosed returns for every year since 1977. Granted, Schedule A (page 29) reveals that $1 million (out of $1,042,000 million total) of these donations went to the Clinton Foundation, but this is still much more of a disclosure than Trump has mustered.

Clinton and running mate Sen. A spokesman for the governor’s office referred all tax-related questions to his vice presidential campaign.

Trump also took umbrage with a “New York Times” story that used unnamed sources to chronicle tensions and dysfunction inside his campaign. She put out her most recent eight years of tax filings last summer along with her health records.

Clinton has tried to paint Trump has an out-of-touch business mogul, but her substantial wealth has caused headaches.

Clinton has had a more complicated position on free trade given her husband, former President Bill Clinton, signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s and she supported the Trans Pacific Partnership, a trade deal with Asian nations supported by President Barack Obama, while she was serving as his secretary of state. She commanded her highest rate from EBay, which paid her $315,000 for a March 2015 address in San Jose. They brought in $6.7 million from speeches, mostly his, and $3.1 million from book advances and royalties, nearly entirely hers.

The Tax History Project has all of the past candidates’ returns. Several former students have sued a school operated by the company, alleging fraud.

Bill Clinton also reported $1.7 million in consulting fees from two private education providers.