Palin tax returns for 2006, 2007 released

WASHINGTON -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had the least income of the four candidates on the presidential tickets last year: $166,495, according to tax returns released by her campaign Friday.

Palin's income included nearly $108,000 in her governor's salary, as well as nearly $17,000 from her husband's fishing business and $43,000 from his work in Alaska's North Slope oilfields. Todd Palin also had $17,000 in winnings as a snowmobile racer last year, though his expenses outstripped his winnings by more than $9,600, the tax return shows.

The returns show Palin's income was a little more than half of the $319,853 earned by Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden last year. Biden released 10 years' worth of tax returns on Sept. 12; Palin's campaign released her tax returns for 2006 and 2007 on Friday. Her 2006 return showed income of $128,005, all but $3,900 of it from her husband's oilfield work, fishing profits and snowmobile winnings.

Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have questioned whether the Republican vice presidential nominee should have reported as income some of the $17,000 in travel expenses reimbursed by the state of Alaska from when she took office in December 2006 through June 30, the Washington Post reported last month. The totals included payments for 312 nights she stayed at her home in Wasilla, Alaska, and worked at the governor's office in Anchorage rather than in the state capitol of Juneau, 600 miles away, the Post report said.

"There are some questions there because she was given per diem payments for staying at home — $17,000," Schumer said on NBC's Meet the Press on Sept. 14. "Are those on her tax return?"

Those payments are not listed as income on Palin's 2007 tax return. Campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella said the state of Alaska as Palin's employer does not consider "meal and incidental expenses" as taxable income under federal law.

The Palins gave $3,325 to charity last year, or about 2% of their income. In 2006, they donated $4,880, or 3.8% of their income. Those donations included clothing and household items given to the Salvation Army in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, the tax returns show. Comella said the Palins also gave money to local churches.