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."

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