Like most politicians, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney released the details of their federal income tax returns late last week.
President Bush and Laura Bush paid more than $187,000 in federal taxes this year on adjusted gross income of about $735,000 -- which includes a presidential salary of about $400,000 and investment income from trusts.
The Bushes paid about $19,500 less to the taxman than they did in 2004, when their income was about $50,000 more.
Meanwhile, Vice President Cheney's return, filed with his wife, Lynne, was a bit more complicated. Though the Cheneys' adjusted gross income was $8.82 million, most of it was not taxable -- the bulk of that income was due to millions in proceeds from Halliburton Co. stock options that the couple set aside for charity in 2001 and distributed last year, along with charitable contributions that came from royalties on books written by Lynne.
The Cheneys reported that their taxes for 2005 were just under $530,000 and they are due a refund of about $1.9 million. The White House said that none of the Cheneys' charitable donations had resulted in a personal financial benefit for the couple.
The Cheneys designated the stock option donations to three charities: the University of Wyoming, the Cardiothoracic Institute of George Washington University and Capital Partners for Education, a group that works with low-income high school students in Washington.The Bushes contributed $75,560 -- about 10 percent of their income -- to churches and charitable organizations, including the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army's funds for hurricane relief in the United States and earthquake aid in Pakistan.
