WP: Edwards Releases Decade of Tax Returns

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Democratic Running Mate Paid a Third in Tax on $39 Million in Income Since 1994

Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards reported nearly $39 million in income in the past decade, according to tax returns released by his campaign yesterday.

Edwards, who was a trial lawyer for two decades before winning a seat in the Senate in 1998, reported earnings of $11.4 million in 1997. That year he won two of his biggest cases and set records for jury awards in North Carolina -- a $25 million verdict for the family of a girl who was disemboweled in a wading pool and a $23.3 million medical malpractice verdict for a child injured at birth.

The joint returns for Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, show that they paid $13.2 million, more than 34 percent of their income, in federal income taxes from 1994 to 2003. The couple reported income of $5.2 million in 1994, $5.4 million in 1995, $4.3 million in 1996, $11.4 million in 1997, $5.9 million in 1998, $1.7 million in 1999, $1.8 million in 2000, $1.7 million in 2001, $1.2 million in 2002 and $306,000 in 2003. Until 2001, Elizabeth Edwards listed her occupation as attorney; since then, she has listed her occupation as homemaker.

The tax returns show that Edwards and his wife reported $5 million in business income after he became a senator, a result of payments he received from his former law partners who bought out his share of the firm. The income did not violate the Senate's restrictions on outside income because the payments were for services prior to his joining the government payroll. Senators receive an annual salary of $158,100.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60450-2004Sep3.html