Obamas release 2008 tax return

The first family's income dropped to $2.7 million from $4.2 million the previous year. The president and first lady paid $855, 323 in federal taxes.
The first family released its 2008 federal tax return today, showing household income dropping to $2.7 million, from $4.2 million the previous year.But while many Americans had a bad financial year, President Obama recorded a net profit from book sales of $2.5 million, according to a copy of the tax return released this afternoon by the White House.He and First Lady Michelle Obama paid $855,323 in federal taxes, while making $172,050 in charitable contributions to 37 different charities. The largest reported gifts were $25,000 to both the United Negro College Fund and the relief organization CARE."The president sold a lot of books last year, no doubt, and paid a hefty amount in federal income tax," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.As president, Obama now is paid $400,000 a year.Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill reported adjusted gross income of $269,256 from salaries from the U.S. Senate, Widener University and Delaware Technical & Community College and royalties from the audio rights to the vice president's book. They paid $46,952 in federal income taxes.A year ago, then- President George W. Bush reported taxable income of $719,274 for the 2007 tax year. He and Laura Bush paid $221,635 in federal income taxes that year.The Obamas contributed $6 in 2008 to the federal fund that provides public financing of presidential campaigns, a program the Democratic nominee bypassed himself.The first family's personal wealth has soared over the last few years, following the same trajectory of Obama's rapid political rise.Their annual household income fluctuated around the $250,000 mark during the first half of this decade, before his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004. Millions in book royalties and advances started rolling in during 2005.Before entering the Senate, Obama signed two book deals worth nearly $2.3 million. He received about $1.2 million of the advance money in 2005, helping the couple afford their purchase that year of a $1.65-million house in Chicago's Kenwood neighborhood.From 1997 through 2004, Obama earned dual paychecks for his work as a state lawmaker and as a lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.Over the same period, Michelle Obama worked first for the University of Chicago and then for the University of Chicago Hospitals. Their household income was also augmented in most years by thousands of dollars that her husband earned from practicing law, giving speeches and serving as a director of charitable foundations.The Obamas have only recently dug deeply into their own pockets to support charitable causes. In 2002, the year before Obama launched his U.S. Senate campaign, the couple reported income of $259,394 and $1,050 in deductions for gifts to charity, below the national average of $1,872.