Roberts issues 2009 tax information

DES MOINES -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Rod Roberts on Wednesday joined the rest of the 2010 major-party candidates' field by releasing state and federal joint tax returns filed by himself and his wife for last year.

Roberts and his wife, Trish, reported income from wages and salaries of $137,072. They listed total liabilities of $21,739 in federal income tax and $4,898 in state income tax.

Roberts, a five-term state representative from Carroll making his first statewide political bid, earned $38,420 for his work as executive director of the Christian Evangelistic Mission, as well as a salary of $26,902 for his work as a part-time state legislator. His wife earned $71,750 for her work with the St. Anthony Foundation, which supports St. Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll.

The Roberts couple also reported $1,504 of taxable interest income, ordinary dividend income of $146 (of which $58 were from qualified dividends), $164 from the taxable portion of their 2008 Iowa tax refund, and self-employment income from ministry and writing of $1,400.

According to information released by the Roberts campaign, the couple had net farm rental income of $10,694. They also had passive income of $690 from a farm partnership that was offset by $11,364 of passive losses from the partnership – resulting in no taxable income from these activities and net farm income of $81.

Roberts and his wife reported their total income was $140,367, and their adjusted gross income was $136,488 following a one-half self-employment tax deduction of $3,879. They listed $26,600 in itemized deductions -- including $4,892 in state and local taxes, $5,476 in real estate taxes, $579 in personal property or other taxes, $7,743 in mortgage interest, $5,783 in charitable contributions, and $2,127 in deductions for job expenses and certain other miscellaneous deductions.

Roberts and his wife claimed two exemptions totaling $7,300 -- resulting in a taxable income of $102,588.

After claiming a bio-fuel tax credit of $4,035 and adding in self-employment tax liability of $7,757, the total federal tax liability for Roberts and his wife was $21,739, according to the Roberts campaign. The couple's state tax return showed a total tax liability of $4,898.

Earlier this week, first-term Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, former Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Boone, and Sioux City business consultant Bob Vander Plaats released their 2009 income tax data.

Culver and his wife, Mari, reported a total income of $126,745 in 2009. They paid $13,905 in federal taxes and $6,584 in state taxes for 2009.

Branstad and his wife, Christine, reported adjusted gross income of nearly $397,000. They paid $85,981 in federal taxes and $16,435 in state taxes.

Vander Plaats and his wife, Darla, reported total income of nearly $105,000 for 2009 -- paying $3,382 in federal income taxes and $4,175 in Iowa income taxes.

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