Branstads report less income but more taxes

DES MOINES - Gov. Terry Branstad and his wife, Chris, reported less income in 2014 than the previous year but paid more in taxes, according to tax returns they released Tuesday.

The tax information shows the couple's income dropped from $226,728 in 2013 to $191,311 in 2014, but their federal and state taxes increased from $28,182 to $32,107.

Branstad has released his tax information each year he's been in office.

The bulk of the couple's income, $127,993, came from his salary as governor. The governor also had $54,980 in Iowa Public Employees Retirement benefits.

The Branstads showed approximately $41,000 in income including interest and dividends, state income tax refund, Social Security income, rental of post offices in 13 communities and an investment in Liberty Banshares.

When the Branstads' $7,254 in Social Security taxes and $1,856 in Medicare taxes are included, their overall tax liability increased to $32,107, according to Jamie Ward, who has done their taxes for the past 10 years.

The couple received refunds of $11,785 from the federal government and $7,681 from the state, Ward said.

The Branstads made $28,822 in charitable contributions - 15.07 percent of their adjusted gross income. Based on IRS data, that's more than eight times the average contribution of $3,540 for federal taxpayers with similar tax liabilities, governor's Chief of Staff Matt Hinch said.

The Branstads are a 'very giving family and feel that it is important to give back to the community,” Hinch said. 'The governor, who grew up in a low-income family, understands what it's like to live with lesser means, so he feels it is important and incumbent upon him to give back to the community.”

Among the charities the Branstads support are Christ the King and Holy Trinity Catholic churches, Dowling and Holy Family Catholic schools, and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which supports Christian presence in the Holy Land. Other charities they contributed to were the American Heart Association, Girl Scouts, Variety, Susan G. Komen Foundation, Boys and Girls Clubs, Des Moines University, Young Women's Resource Center, Botanical Center, Terrace Hill Foundations and Boone County Hospital Foundation.

In addition, the Branstads, who have six grandchildren, reduced their tax liability by contributing $1,300 to the Catholic School Tuition Organization and $18,588 to 529 college savings plans.

They received $81,379 in rental income from the post office buildings in Lake Mills, North English, Lake Park, Lohrville, Olin, Packard, Manly, Dunlap, Exira, Guttenberg, Seymour, Le Claire and Sibley. The rental income ranged from $5,700 in Lohrville to $21,816 in Le Claire.

That income largely was offset by what Ward called 'passive loss carry-over” from losses on their investment in Liberty Banshares.