Don't Mess With Taxes

Cindy "Mrs. GOP Presidential Nominee John" McCain today did what she previously vowed she would never do: make her tax returns public.

The wealthy heiress of a large Arizona beer distributorship had come under attack for keeping her tax data private. Critics said it reflected poorly on her husband's ostensible commitment to government transparency.

The McCain campaign made public only his wife's 2006 Form 1040, not any supporting schedules or documents.

On that form, she listed itemized deductions of nearly $570,000, with about $4.5 million in income from partnerships, trusts and rental real estate, and another $743,000-plus from capital gains.

And like a lot of folks, she overpaid. Her refund, however, was much larger: almost $300,000.

The McCains routinely send the IRS two 1040s under the married-filing-separate status. He released his 2007 return in April (blogged about here).

Click here to see Mrs. McCain's 2006 Form 1040, courtesy of Tax Analysts' Tax History Project. That site also has tax info on the McCain Family Foundation for the 2006 and 2007 tax years.

You also can read about other candidate returns, as well as those of Dubya and Dick, in this previous blog item.

McCain's week that was: It's been a, shall we say, interesting week for McCain, who has wrapped up the Republican nomination, what with some of his campaign staff departing, of their own volition and/or being asked to do so, because of lobbying connections.

Then came the unexpected release of Cindy McCain's tax information on the heels of the 71-year-old candidate's medical records.