Bernie Sanders says tax returns show 'our family has been fortunate'


Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released 10 years worth of tax returns on Monday evening, showing that after the release of his book Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In, his income rose to more than $1 million in 2016 and 2017.
Before that, most of Sanders' income came from the salary he receives as a senator. The returns show "that our family has been fortunate," Sanders said in a statement, adding, "I consider paying more in taxes as my income rose to be both an obligation and an investment in our country." The returns also reveal that in 2018, Sanders' adjusted gross income was $561,293, with a 26 percent effective tax rate, and in 2012 and 2013, Sanders and his wife, Jane, appeared to profit from a "small antiques business," BuzzFeed News reports.
While running for president in 2016, Sanders provided a summary of his 2014 tax returns, but he has never before released his full returns. Right after he launched his 2020 campaign in February, Democrats started pushing him to release his returns, and he promised to do so by April 15. One of his main themes on the campaign trail has been economic justice, and Sanders said that because he grew up in a family that "lived paycheck to paycheck," he knows "the stress of economic insecurity. That is why I strive every day to ensure every American has the basic necessities of life, including a livable wage, decent housing, health care, and retirement security."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Tivoli Kopke Porto Gaia Hotel: a foodie haven in Portugal's Douro Valley
The Week Recommends Luxury city hotel with food from a Michelin-starred chef – and plenty of port
-
A zombie volcano is coming back to life, but there is no need to worry just yet
Under the radar Uturuncu's seismic activity is the result of a hydrothermal system
-
Crossword: May 12, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment