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Gingrich tax return details sources of income, alimony payment

Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, during a campaign stop in Walterboro, S.C.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich and his wife, Callista, paid $994,708 in federal taxes on gross income of $3,142,066 in 2010, according to copies of the couple’s joint tax return that his campaign released at the start of Thursday night’s GOP debate.

The 31.5% tax rate paid by the Gingriches is roughly double the amount that rival Mitt Romney said this week he pays on his own, much larger income. Romney said in Thursday night’s debate that he would make his 2011 returns public, and perhaps some from earlier years, when the latest return is completed later this year.

The vast bulk of the Gingriches’ income came from Gingrich Holdings, their private venture that, among other activities, produces books and films that the candidate and his wife have actively promoted at events around the country during the 2012 campaign. Gingrich did not release the tax return of his private company.


FOR THE RECORD:
An earlier version of this article said Newt Gingrich and his wife paid $989,945 in federal taxes. They paid $994,708.


Gingrich Holdings provided the couple with $2.478 million in earnings. Through the company, Gingrich was paid a $252,500 salary and his wife a salary of $191,827.

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The former House speaker also received a federal government pension of $76,200 from his years in Congress. He listed $31,625 in income from speaking fees and $10,000 in board of director fees; the sources were not disclosed.

Callista Gingrich, who sings with the choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, reported $9,540 in income from the church. The couple took a charitable deduction for a $9,540 contribution to the basilica, indicating that she returned her salary to the church.

Gingrich also reported making $19,800 in alimony payments in 2010. The recipient wasn’t identified. His second wife, Marianne, made headlines Thursday with a television interview in which she accused her ex-husband of asking her for an “open marriage” during a lengthy affair with Callista, who would eventually become his third wife.

The couple reported $81,133 in charitable deductions, or approximately 2.6% of their gross income. None of the amounts from their personal tax return were identified, except the gift to the church.

Gingrich also released the return of his private foundation, which listed $120,000 in grants and contributions to a variety of organizations. Luther College in Decorah, Iowa -- Callista Gingrich’s alma mater -- got $40,000. The basilica received $20,000. The American Museum of Natural History in New York was given $15,000. Contributions of $10,000 each went to the Washington Opera, the Atlanta Ballet and the Mount Vernon Assn. at the home of the first president.

paul.west@latimes.com

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