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.
In addition, we have made available returns from recent candidates for president, including those running in party primaries. The Tax History Project is currently compiling a more complete archive of candidate returns, and we welcome suggestions on who to include and where to find additional returns.
To lend a hand with the Tax History Project, contact project director Joseph J. Thorndike.
You can also follow him on Twitter.
President Barack H. Obama 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich 2010 |
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 Clinton 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
Ronald Reagan 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 |
Gerald Ford Gerald Ford did not release his returns, but he did release summary data about his federal taxes for the years between 1966 and 1975. [Source] |
Franklin 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 |
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.



