One of the most frequent questions we get, whether through our comment form or through the Open for Questions session we launched for the President’s online town hall, is about the incentives in the tax code for companies to shift jobs overseas. This was one of the top questions in the jobs section, for example:

 

"What are your plans to encourage corporations to keep middle class jobs, such as customer service call centers and transactional based support services like accounting and computer program jobs, in the U.S?"

PAG, Houston, TX  

 

Today the President answered that question with proposals to curb tax havens and replace tax advantages for creating jobs overseas with incentives to create them here at home.

 

The President closed his remarks on a note of basic fairness:

 

So the steps I am announcing today will help us deal with some of the most egregious examples of what's wrong with our tax code and will help us strengthen some of these other efforts.  It's a down payment on the larger tax reform we need to make our tax system simpler and fairer and more efficient for individuals and corporations.

 

Now, it will take time to undo the damage of distorted provisions that were slipped into our tax code by lobbyists and special interests, but with the steps I'm announcing today we are beginning to crack down on Americans who are bending or breaking the rules, and we're helping to ensure that all Americans are contributing their fair share.

 

In other words, we're beginning to restore fairness and balance to our tax code.  That's what I promised I would do during the campaign, that's what I'm committed to doing as President, and that is what I will work with members of my administration and members of Congress to accomplish in the months and years to come.

 

Join or read through the discussion started at Twitter.com/WhiteHouse, or read all the details in the White House fact sheet:

 

·         Reforming Deferral Rules to Curb A Tax Advantage for Investing and Reinvesting Overseas

·         Closing Foreign Tax Credit Loopholes

·         Using Savings To Make Permanent The Tax Credit for Investing in Research and Experimentation at Home

·         Eliminating Loopholes for "Disappearing" Offshore Subsidiaries

·         Cracking Down on the Abuse of Tax Havens by Individuals

·         Devoting New Resources for IRS Enforcement to Help Close the International Tax Gap

 

As another demonstration of the President’s commitment to openness and transparency, today the White House issued the following releases making the President and Vice President’s tax returns public:

 

 

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                          

April 15, 2009

 

 

Today, the President released his 2008 federal income tax returns.  He and the First Lady filed their income tax returns jointly and reported an adjusted gross income of $2,656,902.  The vast majority of the family’s 2008 income is the proceeds from the sale of the President’s books.  The Obamas paid $855,323 in federal income tax.

 

The President and First Lady also reported donating $172,050 – or about 6.5% of their adjusted gross income – to 37 different charities.  The largest reported gifts to charity were $25,000 contributions to CARE and the United Negro College Fund.

 

The President and First Lady also released their Illinois income tax return and reported paying $77,883 in state income taxes.

 

Copies of the returns are available below:

 

 

 

 

 

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 15, 2009

 

 

Today, the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden released their 2008 federal and state income tax returns.  He and Dr. Biden filed their income tax returns jointly and reported an adjusted gross income of $269,256 and an after-tax income of $183,315.  The family’s primary sources of income were salaries from the United States Senate, Widener University, Delaware Technical & Community College, as well as royalties from the audio rights to the Vice President’s book.  The Bidens paid $46,952 in federal income taxes; $11,164 in Delaware state income taxes; and donated $1,885 to charity. The charitable donations claimed by the Bidens on their tax returns are not the sum of their annual contributions to charity. They donate to their church, and they contribute to their favorite causes with their time, as well as their checkbooks.

 

Copies of the returns are available below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wrights from Marrietta, Pennsylvania, and the Kirkwoods from Lynchburg, Virginia supported then-candidate Obama during the campaign as he was touting his promise of a Making Work Pay tax credit. Chris and Guenna Wright just bought a new home with their four-year-old son after seven years in their previous house. Kelly Kirkwood is a part time Nursery School teacher at Randolph College in Lynchburg, and her husband Scott is a graphic designer for a small local company – together they are living paycheck-to-paycheck during this economic downturn. Today all of them came to the White House to meet with now-President Obama on tax day, with the President having made good on his pledge.

 

Clark Harrison from Preston, Maryland and Latoya Malone from West Hempstead, New York both made good on the $8,000 home-buyers tax credit. For Clark it was exactly the breathing room he needed to be able to settle bills and make the fixes to the house, allowing him to get out on his own. For Latoya, who moved from the Virgin Islands to New York City to be close to her mother, the home-buyers tax credit helped put a house that had seemed just out of reach under contract for her.

 

Those stories, and others like them, were what the President heard in his meeting today with families from across the country. He asked them to join him on stage afterwards when he spoke to the press:

 

Good morning. I decided not to bring Bo today -- because he stepped on my economic speech yesterday. (Laughter.)

 

Good morning. I know that April 15th isn't exactly everyone's favorite date on the calendar. But it is an important opportunity for those of us in Washington to consider our responsibilities to the people who sent us here and who pay the bills. And I've brought some friends of mine who sent me here and pay the bills.

 

Across America, families like the people who join me have had tough choices forced upon them because of this economic downturn. Many have lost a job; many are fighting to keep their business open. Many more are struggling to make payments, to stay in their home, or to pursue a college education. And these Americans are the backbone of our economy, the backbone of our middle class. They're the workers, the innovators, the students who are going to be powering our recovery. So their dreams have to be our own. They need a government that is working to create jobs and opportunity for them, rather than simply giving more and more to those at the very top in the false hope that wealth automatically trickles down.

 

And that's why my administration has taken far-reaching action to give tax cuts to the Americans who need them, while jump-starting growth and job creation in the process. We start from the simple premise that we should reduce the tax burden on working people, while helping Americans go to college, own a home, raise a family, start a business and save for retirement. Those goals are the foundation of the American Dream, and they are the focus of my tax policy.

 

The President went through the tax changes enacted just in these past few months, including: 1) The Making Work Pay credit for 95% of American families; 2) allowing small businesses to offset their losses during this downturn against the income they’ve earned over the last five years; 3) a $2,500 tax credit for all four years of college; 4) the $8,000 for credit for first-time home buyers. He also made clear that while the tax code is being made right, the federal government will also do its part to tighten its belt, reiterating that his Administration has identified two trillion dollars in deficit-reductions over the next decade: "That’s why we’re cutting programs that don’t work, contracts that aren’t fair, and spending that we don’t need."

 

He stood by his long-standing intentions to end tax breaks for companies shipping jobs overseas, and for people like himself who have made enough money not to need them. Lastly, he pledged as a long-term goal to greatly simplify the tax code and filing process, recognizing that this can be a hardship in itself at this time of year. He closed explaining that his tax policies are guided not by ideology but by the real experiences of people like those he met with today:

 

Now, I just had a conversation with these wonderful Americans, and like people I talked to all across the country, they're not looking for a free ride.  Every single person here is working hard and deserves a chance to get ahead.  And they're a family like -- families like the Kirkwoods, who just want to own their own business and put away some money away for their kids' college tuition.  And they're workers like Clark Harrison, behind me, who has worked hard and wants to be able to purchase that first home.  They're business owners like Alan Givens, who wants his company to sustain itself through bad times as well as the good.  And I was encouraged to hear that Alan's business is going strong on a whole bunch of clean energy measures that he's helping to promote in his area.

 

For too long, we've seen taxes used as a wedge to scare people into supporting policies that actually increased the burden on working people instead of helping them live their dreams.  That has to change, and that's the work that we've begun.  We've passed tax cuts that will help our economy grow.  We've made a clear promise that families that earn less than $250,000 a year will not see their taxes increase by a single dime.  And we have kept to those promises that were made during the campaign.  We've given tax relief to the Americans who need it and the workers who have earned it.  And we're helping more Americans move towards their American Dream by going to school, owning a home, keeping their business and raising their family.

 

 
(President Barack Obama is joined by taxpaying citizens as he gives remarks Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., on the tax cut for 95 percent of  American workers.
White House Photo/Chuck Kennedy)

 

"Tonight, the House of Representatives took another step toward rebuilding our struggling economy. This budget resolution embraces our most fundamental priorities: an energy plan that will end our dependence on foreign oil and spur a new clean energy economy; an education system that will ensure our children will be able to compete in the economy of the 21st century; and health care reform that finally confronts the back-breaking costs plaguing families, businesses and government alike. And by making hard choices and challenging the old ways of doing business, we will cut in half the budget deficit we inherited within four years. With this vote comes an obligation to pursue our efforts to go through the budget line-by-line, searching for additional savings. Like the families we serve, we must cut the things we don't need to invest in those we do."
 

UPDATE: Late in the night, the Senate passed their version as well, with Vice President Biden presiding over the vote.