Clintons Make $504,109, Pay Tax of $89,951

WASHINGTON —  President Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, had adjusted gross income of $504,109 in 1998, $65,402 less than they earned the year before, and paid 17% of their earnings in taxes, or $89,951, according to tax returns released Tuesday.

They were owed a refund of $4,267 and applied that amount to next year’s tax bill.

The Clintons’ 1998 return closely mirrored that from the previous year, when they reported $569,511 in adjusted gross income and paid $91,964, or 16%, in federal taxes.

The Clintons reported $509,345 in total income, which was reduced to $504,109 after deduction of self-employment taxes. Their income sources included $200,000 from Clinton’s salary as president, $16,665 in interest, $16,736 in dividends, $1,329 in taxable refunds or credits, $74,289 in business income, $200,318 in capital gains and $8 in other income from two small investments.

The dividend and interest income includes $12,000 from the Henry G. Freeman Jr. Pin Money Fund, a trust fund established in 1912 for the spouse of the president. As in previous years, the first lady will contribute that money to charity, the White House said.

The Clintons took a $161,938 deduction for charitable gifts, including $99,220 for gifts in 1998 and $62,718 in gifts carried over from the previous year.

The $74,289 in business income came from profits generated by a book written several years ago by Mrs. Clinton about child raising, “It Takes a Village.” Proceeds from another book she wrote about the family’s cat, Socks, and dog, Buddy, go directly to a national parks foundation.

White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart said that all book income, minus taxes and administrative expenses, would be donated to charity.

The first family received $53,462 in short-term capital gains and $146,856 in long-term capital gains, both from the Pell Rudman Trust Co., which holds a private trust for the Clintons. The arrangement shields the Clintons from involvement with their investments and prevents public disclosure of their income sources.

Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, paid $52,951 in federal taxes for 1998, or 23% of an adjusted gross income of $224,132.

The Gores gave $15,197 to various causes in 1998. They were roundly criticized last year for giving only $353 to charity in 1997.

The White House did not specify which charities the Gores gave donations to but said they ranged from religious institutions and educational organizations to groups that aid the homeless and mentally ill.