Bernie Sanders Just Released His Tax Returns. (2014)

[LiberalFighter]

Tax Return Courtesy of Mother Jones

Items that caught my eye and wonder if they are questionable.

He claimed exactly $8,000 for charity (amounts under $200) with an additional $350.

$ 4,900 -- Business Income

$56,377 -- Itemized Deductions

Paid Preparer -- Self-Prepared

$9,666 --- State & Local Income Taxes

$14,843 -- Real Estate Taxes

$22,946 -- Mortgage interest

Tax Preparation Fees -- 204

[DemonGoddess]

1. As it's a joint return

Where is her pension payment?

[LiberalFighter]

2. I'm assuming the $4,982 is his pension.

[DemonGoddess]

3. No, I'm talking about hers

Where is the rest of her income? What about investments and interest (form 4952)?

[LiberalFighter]

5. Must not be there.

[DesertFlower]

22. i just found the social security amount.

it's $46,213.

[DesertFlower]

23. no. i just looked his social security was

$46,213. that makes sense. comes out to $3851 a month. that would be for both of them.

[SunSeeker]

4. So Jane was able to find it even though she is in Vatican City?

It's a Pontifical miracle!

[LiberalFighter]

6. So did Jane do the return herself or did someone else?

They list $204 for tax preparation fee. $110 is the highest package for TurboTax.

[DemonGoddess]

7. the return says SELF prepared

[LiberalFighter]

12. I know.

But is the deduction for $204 appropriate for the deduction?

[spooky3]

9. but you have to pay for state, and then to file some returns

so that may increase to hit $204.

[Thinkingabout]

14. Turbo tax does state taxes also.

[spooky3]

16. I have to pay more to file them, though.

And it's possible they had to file in more than one state.

In any case I'm more concerned about the housing deductions, which don't make sense to me.

[Thinkingabout]

17. Yes you have to purchase the state tax program

[LiberalFighter]

8. Jane lists TLLRWD Commissioner as her business.

If she is a commissioner for a government commission is that the proper place to put it?

BTW the TLLRWD Commission is the Texas Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact of which she is a member. Check the link for commissioners.

[Thinkingabout]

18. Yes, she is on the board, wonder how she got that position.

Influence maybe?

[DemonGoddess]

10. isn't geek a tax preparer?

I'd love his take on this.

[yallerdawg]

11. Since it doesn't include a complete itemization...

and it's only one year - the year he decided to make a run for president - I am very skeptical.

This is a career politician, decades in Washington.

What is he hiding?

[spooky3]

13. That is a lot of mortgage interest at this stage in one's life.

Does he really have 3 houses? It sure looks like it from the MI and RET.

Probably $5K or so of real estate taxes are for the DC condo. I can't imagine that Vermont taxes are $9K unless it is a VERY expensive house, so that probably also suggests a third house.

No rental income or loss is reported, so he apparently did not rent any of the three properties. That's a little strange.

According to this, he may have sold one home. But it claims he has only $80K of mortgage debt remaining (though in another place it implies he has a first mortgage on the same property for about $400K). If it's only $80K, the mortgage interest would be MUCH less than $22K. If they had rented the home they sold, and it was not their primary residence, then they should have reported the sale if they sold it in 2014. Maybe they sold it in 2015 or 2016?

https://sandersguideblog.wordpress.com/2016/03/07/sanders-finances-bring-a-shovel/

I sure wish he would come clean. Too many variables in this.

[George II]

26. That stuff looked a little curious, too....

He presumably has a condominium in Washington, but Forbes reported that his mortgage was no more than $100,000, and he's been living in his Vermont house for about 40 years. So, $23,000 for interest is curious.

Forbes also said that they have "rental property" in Vermont, but no rental income reported?

That $4900 in "business income" is Janie's income as a Commissioner in Vermont (probably the commissioner job where she tried to send Vermont's toxic waste to that small Texas town near the Mexican border)

Another curious item is "unreimbursed meals and entertainment" of $9,000.

All things considered, although some items are high there's nothing grossly out of line. But, what is mysterious is what they've done with their money for the last 25 years. He earned around $5 million as a Congressman and Senator, and she earned in the order of $100,000 a year for the 7 years she was President of Burlington College and got $200,000 severance pay when she left.

So, that's income of around $6 million in 25 years, and they have at least two real estate properties, yet their so-called "net worth" is only $850,000 maximum.

So where is all that money? I normally wouldn't care, but his whole campaign is based on doing away with tax shelters, the "rich paying their fair share", "1%-ers", etc.

So, here we are with all these questionable finances AND they go for a jaunt to Rome at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars ("bill it to the campaign, folks&quot .

Very very suspicious if you ask me. And beyond suspicious, highly hypocritical!

[Andy823]

28. In another thread

You posted this link: http://pfds.opensecrets.org/N00000528_2015_Pres.pdf

It shows investments Bernie listed if I am correct. The problem is I looked at his taxes that his gang posted on DU and for the life of me I can't seem to find where he claimed any dividend income on his return, nor any capital gains. The boxes were not checked.

Maybe I am missing something but when I do my taxes, and I use Turbo tax also, I input my investment accounts, and the dividends I made are listed there, as well as capital gains. How can he have those funds, yet not make any dividends or capital gains on them? They state it was from 2014 which is the year on the tax papers I saw.

[George II]

29. Precisely. The two just don't match up - that disclosure and his tax return. Plus, those 7 pages..

....STILL are not their complete tax return.

[question everything]

33. Also, in the Politico story they rent their house in Vermont

so whee is Schedule E?

Or do they now live there?

[Iamaartist]

15. PDF same

Got in PDF maybe one can see it better


https://go.berniesanders.com/page/-/Bernie%20Taxes%20Full.pdf

[Her Sister]

19. Some are saying he's paying 13.4%

So Bernie's tax rate is 13.4% ? Is that right and isn't it low?

[DesertFlower]

20. $22,946 mortgage interest.

at his age you would think the morgage would be paid. how high is the mortgage? must be a really nice house.

kind of cheap on charity too especially for someone who cares about the poor.

[still_one]

21. he probably took out an equity loan, and that is why it is so high

[DesertFlower]

24. at that age i'd be worried about

something so high. but senators get really big pensions, don't they?

[George II]

30. Someone else mentioned that possibility, but equity loan for what? Are they frivolous spenders?

Remember, according to his disclosure form he has $25-65K in credit card debt.

[jmowreader]

25. You are looking at a man in dire need of an audit

He made over $200,000 in 2014, doesn't spend money, and only made eleven dollars in taxable interest plus two dollars in dividends? Either (1) he's got a weed habit that'd put Willie Nelson to shame, (2) Jane Sanders set the world's land speed record for picking bad stocks, or (3) he's full of shit. (1) probably isn't the case; he'd smell like a tire fire if it was. (2) is possible; Bennington College almost went under thanks to Jane's investment acumen. But I gotta go with (3).

[George II]

31. Or he's a typical 1%-er and has money invested overseas.

[jmowreader]

34. That's possible but unlikely

In the no-secrets world we live in, if Bernie had money buried overseas someone would have dropped a dime on him by now.

[DesertFlower]

27. today is the 15th. time for us to

see his 2015 taxes.

[George II]

32. This year tax returns are due on April 18. I'm sure Janie will get on it as soon as they get back..

....from Roma.