Bush Reports $894,880 in Income; Cheney $36 Million

CRAWFORD, Texas – President Bush reported earning $894,880 last year, most of it from interest on investments, while Vice President Dick Cheney took in $36 million, the bulk of it from stock options and sales.

The president and his wife, Laura, paid $240,342 in federal taxes, the Cheneys $14.3 million, according to figures released Friday. Both would see significant reductions if their tax-cut proposals are enacted.

Bush reported $549,236 in interest from investments, held in state and federal blind trusts. He also reported $138,358 in capital gains.

Bush listed $70,554 in salary earnings. He was governor of Texas until resigning in December.

The Bushes were entitled to a federal income tax refund of $244,534. They elected to apply about half -- $127,220 -- to their 2001 tax bill and were repaid the difference of $117,314.

Most of Cheney's income came when he exercised stock options and sold stock in Halliburton Co., the Dallas-based energy services firm he headed until late in the presidential campaign. The White House did not specify precisely how much Cheney earned from that.

The vice president received $4.3 million in deferred compensation and bonuses. He reported $806,332 in salary.

Cheney sold part of his stock to avoid raising conflict-of-interest questions, and he reported sustaining a $1.9 million loss.

He also reported $823,509 in capital gains.

Though his federal tax liability was $14.3 million, Cheney paid only $9.6 million during the year. He paid the remaining balance of $4.7 million when he filed on Friday.

The Bushes reported donating $143,300 to charity, including $75,000 in royalties from his biography published during the presidential campaign, "A Charge to Keep." The book sale proceeds went to four organizations: Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Girls Inc.

The Cheneys donated stock options worth $7.8 million to three beneficiaries: Capital Partners for Education, which provides educational assistance to low-income children in Washington; George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, the hospital where he has been treated for his heart condition; and the University of Wyoming, in Cheney's home state.

They also donated $41,646 to other, unspecified, charities.

Cheney's tax total put him in the rarified realm of the top 39.6 percent tax bracket, which Bush wants to eventually reduce to 33 percent. Bush's effective tax rate came to about 27 percent.

Both Cheney and Bush stand to get a sizable tax cut under the president's 10-year, $1.6 trillion tax relief plan.

According to a "tax calculator" on the Web site of the conservative Heritage Foundation, Bush would get a tax cut of $38,979 using his 2000 reported income. That's a 16.2 percent cut.

Figuring Cheney's potential tax cut precisely is more difficult because he did not disclose how much in itemized deductions he claimed this year. But using the small standard deduction of $7,350, the calculator estimates Cheney's tax cut under the Bush plan at more than $2.3 million, a 16.1 percent cut.

Last year, then-President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore released more extensive tax information, including detailed accounts of their deductions, investments and interest income.

Bush released a federal Form 1040, without attachments. Cheney released only a summary prepared by the White House. The information was made public in Crawford, Texas, where the president is spending the weekend on his ranch.