Article content continued

Since then, he has written two campaign-oriented books: “Our Revolution” in November 2016 and “Where We Go From Here” in November 2018. The impact of his book contracts is most evident in Sanders’s return for 2017, when he and his wife reported wages of $139,549 and business income – most of it from books – of $961,784.

That squares with a financial disclosure report that Sanders filed last year as a senator and that showed he earned $880,000 in royalties from book deals.

These tax returns show that our family has been fortunate

The 2018 returns show that Sanders and his wife, Jane, contributed about $19,000 to charity out of their income of $566,000, or 3.35 per cent. The couple gave $36,300 to charity in 2017. The Sanders campaign said those rates do not reflect charitable proceeds given from one of his books, which he did not deduct from his taxes. The campaign did not say how much was given in that case.

“These tax returns show that our family has been fortunate,” Sanders said in a statement. “I am very grateful for that, as I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck and I know the stress of economic insecurity … I consider paying more in taxes as my income rose to be both an obligation and an investment in our country.”

The Sanders campaign said in a news release that he paid a 26 per cent effective tax rate in 2018.

Speaking at a Fox News Channel town hall Monday night, Sanders sought to downplay his wealth. “You raised the issue. I am a millionaire,” Sanders told a questioner, making air quotes as he spoke. “Well, actually, this year we had $560,000 in income.”