Klobuchar releases her tax returns

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Monday posted 12 years of her tax returns to her campaign website, becoming the latest 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to make public at least a decade’s worth of tax filings.

“Amy believes that transparency and accountability are fundamental to good governance,” Klobuchar’s website states. “That’s why she’s released her tax returns for every year since she’s been a candidate for federal office.”

Klobuchar released her returns from 2006 — the year she was first elected to the Senate — through 2017. 

{mosads}Her website does not include her 2018 tax return, though it is unclear if she has filed it yet. Taxpayers have until April 15 to file their 2018 returns, or until Oct. 15 if they request an extension.

The 2017 tax return for Klobuchar and her husband, John Bessler, shows the couple had total income of $292,306 and paid $62,787 in taxes, for an effective tax rate of 21.5 percent. The couple’s income mainly came from Klobuchar’s Senate salary and Bessler’s income as a lawyer and law professor.

The couple made $5,075 in charitable gifts, including donations to the American Red Cross, UNICEF, United Way and several universities.

Klobuchar is the latest presidential candidate to release at least 10 years of tax returns. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) have also done so.

In releasing their tax returns, the Democratic presidential candidates are highlighting their transparency, contrasting themselves with President Trump, who in 2016 became the first major party nominee in decades to refuse to release his tax returns.