Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden leave after Biden delivered remarks on COVID-19 response and the vaccination program from the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 13, 2021. Biden and Harris Release 2020 Tax Returns
May 18 - President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris released their 2020 tax returns on May 17, disclosing the incomes for themselves and their spouses for the year prior to their inauguration.
The disclosure came on Tax Day, the individual tax filing deadline for the vast majority of Americans.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden earned a combined income of $607,336, according to a copy (pdf) of their tax return. The president and first lady paid 25.9 percent in federal taxes on their income, for a total of $157,414. They also paid $29,237 in state taxes in Delaware and Virginia.
The Bidens donated more than $30,000 to ten charities, about 5.1 percent of their income. The largest donation went to the Beau Biden Foundation, a charity dedicated to child abuse prevention.
Harris and First Gentleman Doug Emhoff earned $1,695,225 in 2020 and paid $621,893 in federal income tax, according to a copy (pdf) of their tax return. The tax payments amounted to more than one-third of their income, 36.7 percent. The vice president and the second gentleman paid an additional $182,001 in state taxes in California and the District of Columbia. Harris and Emhoff contributed $27,006 to charity in 2020, less than 2 percent of their income, according to the tax documents.
The White House said in a press release that Monday’s disclosure marks the 23rd year that Biden released his taxes and the 17th year that Harris has done so. Their predecessors, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, broke with years of precedent and did not disclose their tax returns during their four years in office.
The White House also released financial disclosure forms for Biden and Harris on Monday. The Bidens hold more than $1 million in assets in an array of banks and investments accounts, their disclosure form (pdf) shows. Harris and Emhoff have more than $300,000 in cash across multiple banks, according to their disclosure forms (pdf).
“Neither the President nor the Vice President [has] any conflicts of interest,” the White House said in a statement accompanying the release of the disclosure forms. source from
May 17 - Federal tax refunds have started going out to taxpayers who paid taxes on their unemployment benefits when they filed their 2020 tax return.
Typically, unemployment benefits are considered taxable income. But the stimulus plan enacted by Congress in March exempted $10,200 in benefits for taxpayers for last year with an income of up to $150,000. For married couples filing jointly, $20,400 in benefits can be exempted.
The problem is that by the time Congress acted, millions of taxpayers already had filed their tax returns for 2020, and that included claiming those benefits as income.
The Internal Revenue Service said Friday that it has identified more than 10 million affected taxpayers who filed their tax returns before the American Rescue Plan became law.
To claim a federal refund, taxpayers don't have do anything. The IRS says corrections will be made automatically and the money refunded to the bank account shown on the return. If there is no bank account listed, the IRS will send a check.
The IRS says it is reviewing those returns to determine the correct taxable amount of unemployment compensation and tax, and determining whether the taxpayer is entitled to a tax refund, a reduced balance due or no change.
The first phase is underway and includes the simplest returns. More complex corrections involving married couples who file joint returns will begin when the first phase is completed.
Simple tax returns are those, for example, that don't claim children or refundable tax credits.
Any refund comes with this caveat: It is subject to be taken by the government and used for a variety of purposes such as unpaid federal or tax income, child support and student loans.
The IRS will send taxpayers a notice explaining the corrections. In Ohio, affected taxpayers will have to file an amended state tax return and school district tax return if they want to get their refund.
For now, the Ohio Department of Taxation is advising taxpayers not to take any action on the returns they have filed. It says it will provide further guidance when more details are available from the IRS. source from
May 17, 2021 | Part Of U.S. Senate U.S. Senate Senator Cotton on Israeli-Palestinian ConflictSenator Tom Cotton (R-AR) criticized Democrats and the Biden administration for not showing support for Israel’s military actions in its ongoing conflict with the Palestinian group Hamas.
May 18 - The decision to approve the sale was made on May 5, about a week before the escalating violence began, the Washington Post reported. But the approval came amid then-mounting criticism of Israel's planned expulsions of Palestinian residents from an East Jerusalem neighborhood, and repeated raids on Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest in Islam.
The decision to greenlight the sale, which is mainly comprised of Joint Direct Attack Munitions, has stirred opposition among some members of U.S. President Joe Biden's Democratic Party, including Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, as the death toll from Israel's Gaza offensive continues to mount.
Omar said shortly after the Post's story was published that the sale should not be completed "while crimes against humanity are being committed with our backing."
"It would be appalling for the Biden Administration to go through with $735 million in precision-guided weaponry toNetanyahuwithout any strings attached in the wake of escalating violence and attacks on civilians," she said in a statement, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"If this goes through this will be seen as a green light for continued escalation and will undercut any attempts at brokering a ceasefire," added Omar. source from
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