Mike Pence Tax Returns Released: Three Down, One To Go

Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence's tax returns have been uploaded to Donald Trump's official campaign website, meaning that three of the four major party nominees' returns have now been made public.

Trump has yet to release his returns, with he and his campaign at times offering conflicting reasons why. Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, released their returns in August. The practice is not mandated for presidential candidates, but every major-party nominee has done so since the 1970s.

Correct the Record, a pro-Hillary Clinton rapid response team, first spotted the tax returns on Trump's website and tweeted them Friday afternoon. The Trump campaign had not made a formal announcement about Pence's returns.

The returns show Pence and his wife, Karen, made an adjusted gross income of $113,026 in 2015 and paid $8,956 in taxes, an effective tax rate of 12.6 percent. The Pences gave $8,923 to charity.

Effective tax rate is a person's total taxes paid divided by their total taxable income.

“These tax returns clearly show that Mike and Karen Pence have paid their taxes, supported worthy causes and, unlike the Clintons, the Pences have not profited from their years in public service,” Pence spokesman Marc Lotter said in a statement to multiple media outlets.

The statement said "These returns are being released with the full support of Mr. Trump who plans to release his tax returns upon completion of a routine audit."

The "routine audit" has largely been the standard line from Trump's campaign, though the IRS has said that audits do not prohibit people from making their tax returns public.

Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, though, has suggested that the audit may be more than "routine."

"I've learned since being on the inside that this audit is a serious matter and that he has said that when the audit is complete, he will release his tax returns," she told CNN in August.

On Tuesday, Trump took a different stand on his tax returns. He said he would release the returns "immediately" if Clinton releases "33,000 emails that she deleted" — regardless on an audit.

Trump's tax returns would help answer several questions that have lingered over his campaign since he announced his candidacy in August, such as how much money he has made, how much money he personally gives to charity and what outside groups, if any, he is paid by.

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons