Bernie Sanders underpaid taxes by $4K in 2009, analysis shows
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who released 10 years of his tax returns earlier this year, underpaid during one of those years, according to a new report.
A Wall Street Journal-commissioned expert analysis of Sanders’ returns showed that his 2009 filings contained a number of mistakes, resulting in underpayment to the IRS.
Sanders filed the documents by hand – they were the oldest-dated returns the senator released. According to the analysis, there were four mistakes:
Sanders did not limit his personal exemptions, required of high-income households
He did not apply the alternative minimum tax
He claimed a $3,000 deduction for employees’ expenses, which could only be claimed if they exceeded 2 percent of adjusted gross income (they did not).
These three mistakes lowered Sanders’ tax liabilities. A fourth – including all of his and his wife’s Social Security benefits in income when only 85 percent are taxable – increased his liability.
Overall, Sanders underpaid by $4,479, according to the Journal. His reported gross adjusted income was $314,712.
Sanders’ office did not return FOX Business’ request for comment, but a spokeswoman told the Journal that “inadvertent errors” were promptly addressed.
Sanders was criticized after releasing his returns because they show he earned over a million dollars in 2016 and 2017, which he attributed to the success of his book. In 1971 Sanders called millionaire senators “immoral” during his first run for Senate.
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Meanwhile, on Tuesday The New York Times obtained tax information pertaining to President Trump – who is currently locked in a battle on Capitol Hill regarding the release of his tax returns. The Times said Trump reported $1.17 billion in losses in the decade beginning in 1985. Those losses allowed Trump to avoid paying income taxes for eight of ten years.
In response, Trump said on Twitter that real estate developers during those times were “entitled to massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases.”