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 A PUBLIC SERVICE OF TAX ANALYSTS

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Tax History Project

Presidential Tax Returns

Individual income tax returns — including those of public figures — are private information, protected by law from unauthorized disclosure. Indeed, the Internal Revenue Service is barred from releasing any taxpayer information whatsoever, except to authorized agencies and individuals.

Like all other citizens, U.S. presidents enjoy this protection of their privacy. Since the early 1970s, however, most presidents have chosen to release their returns publicly. In the hope of making this information more widely available, the Tax History Project at Tax Analysts has compiled an archive of presidential tax returns.

Note: To view these files, you'll need a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Presidential Candidates

During the 2004 presidential election, the Tax History Project published tax returns released by the Democratic candidate, Sen. John Kerry, as well as those released by his opponent, President George Bush. This year, we will again publish tax returns released by both Democratic and Republican candidates.

Should we care about the public release of candidates' tax returns?
Joseph J. Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project, says we should.
Read his new analysis: Private Returns, Public Rewards: The Politics of Tax Records.
 



Sen. Hillary R. Clinton



Sen. John S. McCain

    Senator John S. McCain
    2006 | 2007

    Note: Large PDFs (7 MB).


Sen. Barack H. Obama



President George W. Bush President George W. Bush
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007

Vice President Richard CheneyVice President Richard Cheney
2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007

Note: For tax year 2001, both President Bush and Vice President Cheney released partial returns. For tax year 2000, Bush released only his Form 1040; Cheney provided a summary of his taxes, but released no forms.




Bill ClintonBill Clinton
1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999


George BushGeorge Bush
1989 | 1990 | 1991


Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan
1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987


Jimmy CarterJimmy Carter
1977 | 1978 | 1979



Richard NixonRichard Nixon
1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972



Franklin RooseveltFranklin Roosevelt
1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937



Important Notes: Paper copies of the returns can be ordered from Tax Analysts using the associated document numbers. Copies are also available from the Bush, Carter, Nixon, Reagan, and Roosevelt presidential libraries.

Two caveats: (1) Some of the images are of mediocre quality, reflecting the poor photocopies released by the White House. We're searching for better copies and will make them available as soon as possible; (2) most of the missing years reflect a quirk of the calendar. Presidents release tax returns only for years they serve in office and only while they still hold that office. Consequently, Jimmy Carter did not release a return for 1980 nor did Ronald Reagan release one for 1988 — each left office before returns were due. Likewise incoming presidents do not release returns for the year before they assumed office, even though they hold office when returns for that year come due.