WASHINGTON — President Clinton joined millions of other Americans in owing the IRS money this year--largely because of his wife's $203,172 law firm earnings--while Vice President Al Gore found national campaigning a boon to the sales of his book, which produced almost $500,000 in royalties last year, according to tax returns made public Thursday.
Although Clinton--who as Arkansas governor was the nation's lowest-paid state chief executive--earned only $34,527 in 1992, he and Hillary Rodham Clinton reported an adjusted gross income of $290,697. Ironically, Hillary Clinton, who has severed her law firm ties, will earn no salary this year, while her husband's income will leap to $200,000.
Hillary Clinton did very little legal work last year, having taken much of 1992 off to campaign for her husband's election. However, under her partnership agreement with Little Rock's Rose Law Firm, she received a share of the firm's income based on the average of her last five years' work.
The arrangement followed "the way the firm has done it for 22 years," White House Deputy Communications Director Ricki Seidman said. Because the firm had a good year, Hillary Clinton earned $14,625 more in 1992 than she had in 1991, the couple's tax return showed.
In addition, the First Lady received $32,400 in honorariums and directors fees from various corporate boards on which she sat and $13,199 from the sale of her interest in the building that houses her former firm, the returns showed. The rest of the couple's income came from interest and dividends on several small investments.
The Clintons owed $70,228 in federal income taxes and sent the IRS a check for $4,085 along with this year's return. "Took a pretty good lick," Clinton said when asked about the amount he owed.
In keeping with their desire for privacy, the Clintons had aides black out their Social Security numbers and that of their daughter, Chelsea, before releasing copies of their federal tax returns. The couple's Arkansas state tax return does not have to be filed until May.
Meanwhile, the lower half of the ticket had a very good 1992, indeed.
Gore's book, "Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit," already had made some bestseller lists before Clinton tapped him to be his running mate.
But writing a bestseller and running for national office appears to be a potent combination. Gore's book netted him $461,529 in 1992 royalties after expenses. The vast majority of those sales came after his nomination, Marla Romash, his press secretary, said.
