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Dick and Lynne Cheney released their 2005 federal income tax returns on Friday. The damage? They are set to receive a refund just shy of $2 million. Yep, a refund!

The Cheneys reported adjusted gross income of nearly $8.82 million, a number largely padded with income they received by exercising stock options that had been set aside in 2001 for charity.

…

After subtracting the charitable contributions, the Cheneys’ income was $1.95 million on which they owed $529,636 in taxes, according to a statement released by the vice president’s office.

Since the Cheneys paid $2.46 million in withholding and estimated taxes over the year, they were entitled to a refund of about $1.93 million.

Ok, they did give a reported $6.87 million to charity, but it’s interesting that the gift was given in the same year that Bush signed into law the new tax breaks on charitable giving — particularly the bill which allowed individuals and corporations to deduct 100% of all charitable contributions in 2005 (previously the ceiling was set to 50%). Lucky break, wouldn’t you say Dick?

Compared to Cheney, Bush made a poor showing with an adjusted gross income of only $735,180.

[via AP]

This entry was posted on Monday, April 17th, 2006 at 8:57 am and is tagged with dick cheney, george bush, news, politics. You can discuss this entry, share pictures, and more in the pixelbomb forums. Responses are currently closed, but you can click here to generate a trackback url for your own site.