US president Barack Obama made nearly $2.5 million (€1.9 million ) in 2008 from the sales of his two best-selling memoirs, accordingto tax information released by the White House last night.
Mr Obama jointly filed his 2008 federal income tax return with his wife Michelle, reporting an adjusted gross income of $2,656,902 and paying $855,323 in federal income tax and $77,883 in state income taxes, the White House said.
Mr Obama's books,
Dreams From My Fatherand
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, were
New York Timesbest-sellers and have sold hundreds of thousands of copies around the world.
Obama earned $2,479,648 from the sales of his books in 2008, according to the tax return, when as a US senator from Illinois he campaigned to become the 44th president of the United States.
The president and first lady also reported donating $172,050 - or 6.5 per cent of their adjusted gross income - to 37 charities. The largest reported donations were $25,000 gifts to CARE, an anti-poverty group, and the United Negro College Fund.
The White House also released tax information for vice president Joe Biden and his wife Jill, who reported an adjusted gross income of $269,256 and an after-tax income of $183,315. The figures included royalties from the vice president's memoir
Promises to Keep.
The 2008 tax returns of the president and the vice president were released on a day when millions of US taxpayers faced the dreaded April 15th deadline to submit their federal returns or suffer penalties for late submissions.
Mr Obama promised yesterday to reform what he called the "monstrous" US tax system, saying it was far too complicated for most to understand.
Reuters