Quote
Bushes Pay $187,768 in Taxes for 2005
By DEB RIECHMANN
Associated Press Writer
Sat Apr 15, 1:38 AM ET
President Bush and the first lady paid about $187,000 in federal taxes this year on income of about $735,000. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife made more than 10 times as much, overpaid the tax man and are looking for a $1.9 million refund.
According to the president's tax return released Friday by the White House, the Bushes had adjusted gross income of $735,180 — about $50,000 less than the year before.
The couple paid $187,768 in federal taxes for last year — about $19,500 less than they paid the Internal Revenue Service for 2004.
Their income included Bush's presidential salary — about $400,000 — and investment income from trusts that hold their assets.
The Bushes contributed $75,560 — about 10 percent of their income — to churches and charitable organizations. Those included the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army's funds for hurricane relief in the United States and earthquake aid in Pakistan. They also gave to Martha's Table, which provides food and services to the underprivileged in the Washington area, the Archdiocese of New Orleans Catholic Charities and the Mississippi Food Network.
The Bushes paid $26,172 in state property taxes on their ranch near Crawford, Texas, up about $4,000 from the year before.
The Cheneys reported adjusted gross income of nearly $8.82 million, a number largely padded with income they received by exercising stock options that had been set aside in 2001 for charity.
The Cheneys donated about $6.87 million to charity from the stock options and royalties earned on Mrs. Cheney's books: "America: A Patriotic Primer," "A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women" and "When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots."
Recipients of their charitable donations included: George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates for the benefit of the Cardiothoracic Institute, the University of Wyoming Foundation and Capital Partners for Education, to benefit low-income high school students in the Washington area.
After subtracting the charitable contributions, the Cheneys' income was $1.95 million on which they owed $529,636 in taxes, according to a statement released by the vice president's office.
Since the Cheneys paid $2.46 million in withholding and estimated taxes over the year, they were entitled to a refund of about $1.93 million.
The Cheneys' income included the vice president's $205,031 government salary and $211,465 in deferred compensation from Halliburton Co., the Dallas-based energy services firm he headed until Aug. 16, 2000.
Cheney elected in December 1998 to recoup over five years a portion of the money he made in 1999 as chief executive officer of Halliburton. This amount was to be paid in annual installments — with interest — after Cheney's retirement from Halliburton. The 2005 payment is the last.
The White House has said that the amount of deferred compensation received by the vice president is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.
The Cheneys' tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's royalty income from her book, "A Time for Freedom: What Happened When in America," salary income from the American Enterprise Institute and a retirement benefit from Reader's Digest. Mrs. Cheney served on the Reader's Digest board of directors until retiring in 2003.
i seriously wish he would die
The fact that DC got a $1.9M refund only means he was stupid enough to overpay the government by that much. It's not like he got a bonus for being #2.
They donated 6.7mil to charities :o
More than likely, the withholding tax was based on the actual income.
Since the donated so much of their income to charity, they ended up only owing income on less than 25% of their income.
Hence the differential and tax refund.
I'm a little surprised that someone as smart with money as Cheney didn't adjust the withholding, though. I'm sure he could have done more with the $1.9 million that give the government an interest-free loan.
maybe he was just trying to give back a little :paranoid :-D
Boo fargin hoo! What the farg do you care what he got back. This is a waste of a thread.
dude.. I'm on your side. That was my poingt exactly. People making it seem like Cheney got a huge refund because of special favors or some shtein, and it was a result of poor cash management and a large donation base.
Quote from: DemonchildrenOnTurf on April 16, 2006, 12:26:42 AM
dude.. I'm on your side. That was my poingt exactly. People making it seem like Cheney got a huge refund because of special favors or some shtein, and it was a result of poor cash management and a large donation base.
It's all good man. I was directing that at the others that whined about it.
u better watch what u say about DC. you'll get a buck o blast of quail shot in your ass.
Quote from: The Waco Kid on April 16, 2006, 12:10:40 AM
Boo fargin hoo! What the farg do you care what he got back. This is a waste of a thread.
Waco, got a little sand in your snatch?
I didn't see anyone whining or complaining about Cheney getting a big tax return, or the big cheese actually owing money. Well, except for MDS, and we all know what kind of weight that carries. It was posted just because it was a pretty big tax return, and was simply there for discussion. To be honest, even though I dispise Cheney in all his forms, donating 80 some odd percent of your income to charity should be commended.
Strange that you have such a knee-jerk reaction whenever anyone brings up anything about either of the two guys in the White House.
You know nothing about me dumbass. I don't like Bush. I just love controversy.
It's not a good idea to admit to trolling. Consider yourself lucky, we don't really do warnings around here.
Excuse me? Gimme a fargin break Nazi. That's kinda ridiculous isn't it?
No. We don't need the bullshtein around here.
getting married + buying a house in the same calendar year = little windfall
although we immediately applied half of the refund towards next years taxes because we may be telling a different story in a year.
Quote from: General_Failure on April 16, 2006, 09:02:09 PM
No. We don't need the bullshtein around here.
Oh okay. So all of the retarded crap that people spew out on this forum and you try to tell me that a comment i make won't be tolerated? Hmmmmmmm...seems kinda stupid to me. IDGAF baby...IDGAF.
I didn't owe anything, and I didn't get anything back. I guess that means I withheld properly. I don't like to give interest free loans to the government, but I'd rather do that than end up owing a pile of money April 15th.
Regarding Bush and Cheney, I prefer not to speak of them.
Quote from: Diomedes on April 17, 2006, 07:07:06 PM
I didn't owe anything, and I didn't get anything back. I guess that means I withheld properly.
pretty much. its the ideal situation.
however, i have deductions i can take every year which usually brings a refund in, but if i changed my withholdings, it wouldn't work out the same. at least it didnt the year i tried to
I heard a little blurb on 93.3 online yesterday about a guy that still hadn't filed his 2001 tax return because it was a refund. So this year, he tried to file and get a refund of his $1100 that was overpaid and government told him to get lost. They said he waited too long to file. So, if you are owed a return, make sure you file before 5 years.
Quote from: The Waco Kid on April 18, 2006, 09:19:09 AM
I heard a little blurb on 93.3 online yesterday about a guy that still hadn't filed his 2001 tax return because it was a refund. So this year, he tried to file and get a refund of his $1100 that was overpaid and government told him to get lost. They said he waited too long to file. So, if you are owed a return, make sure you file before 5 years.
yeah but if he owed the gov, they would have been beating down his trailer door.
That's actually good. The IRS is already a ridiculously inefficient bureaucracy. Do we really want them spending time and resources to hunt down people that haven't filed and will be owed money?
Quote from: General_Failure on April 16, 2006, 03:42:41 PM
It's not a good idea to admit to trolling. Consider yourself lucky, we don't really do warnings around here.
I heard that!