Feinstein, Boxer Appear to Lead in Income, Taxes : Senate race: Two Democrats report much more earnings than Sen. Seymour. Republican Herschensohn refuses to allow his returns to be inspected.

Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Barbara Boxer, front-runners for California’s two U.S. Senate seats, report much more income than at least one Republican opponent, and pay far more taxes, an analysis of their federal and state tax returns shows.

Boxer’s foe, Republican Bruce Herschensohn, was the only one of the four Senate candidates from the two major parties who refused to allow The Times to inspect his tax returns for the past five years. As a result, Herschensohn’s total income, and the amount he paid in taxes, is not known publicly.

Feinstein’s opponent, Republican Sen. John Seymour, who long has projected the image that he is a millionaire, reported income of $127,000 in 1991, including his $112,000 salary as a senator.

Feinstein and Richard C. Blum, her investment banker husband, reported income of $4.13 million in 1991. They paid $1.35 million in state and federal income taxes last year--or 32.9% of their adjusted gross income.

Seymour consistently has kept his income tax bill low by claiming losses on rental property that he owns in Orange and Sacramento counties.

Seymour, a former Orange County real estate broker, whose portfolio included nine houses in 1991, paid $9,289 in state and federal income taxes in 1991, or 9.8% of his adjusted gross income of $94,794.

In 1990, similar real estate write-offs allowed Seymour and his wife, Judy, to pay no federal or state income taxes on adjusted gross income of $67,861. They did pay $1,273 in self-employment taxes for Judy Seymour’s work as an escrow officer.

H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the senator, said Seymour did not pay income taxes in 1990 because of “straight mathematics.”

“The deductions exceeded the tax that was owed on income,” Palmer said.

Boxer’s returns show that she and her husband, Oakland attorney Stewart Boxer, earned an average of $545,662 a year over the past five years. Her pay as a member of Congress is $116,589. Stewart Boxer’s salary averaged $408,000 over the past five years, but has declined since 1987.

In each of those five years, the Boxers paid state and federal income taxes ranging from 31.7% to 39.6% of their adjusted gross income.

Candidates are under no legal obligation to release their tax returns to the public. But in this era of voter mistrust, candidates’ character and personal finances can play a major role in politics, and many candidates for high office agree to reveal their returns. Their failure to do so often becomes campaign fodder.

In New York, Geraldine A. Ferraro blamed her fall as a top contender for a Senate seat in part on her initial refusal to release some of her returns. In Texas, Gov. Ann Richards attributed her 1990 victory in part to her opponent’s refusal to release his returns, coupled with his admission that he paid no taxes in 1986.

Whether Herschensohn’s failure to release his tax returns will become an issue remains to be seen, although Boxer issued a press release Thursday calling on Herschensohn to release his tax returns.

Herschensohn, who is running against Boxer for the six-year seat being vacated by Sen. Alan Cranston, has maintained that his returns are part of his private life. “It’s Bruce’s personal business,” said John Peschong, Herschensohn’s spokesman.

Herschensohn has complied with Senate rules by disclosing his holdings in filings with the U.S. Senate. But the Senate disclosures do not provide the level of detail of a tax return. The federal disclosure forms do not require Herschensohn to disclose his total income, or whether he paid taxes.

Also, Herschensohn’s Senate disclosures cover only 1990 and 1991; the other three candidates provided tax returns dating back at least to 1987.

In his Senate disclosures, Herschensohn, a broadcast commentator, reported 1991 pay of $128,973 from ABC and KABC radio, plus $15,265 in speaking fees. He reported receiving $212,723 for his 1990 television and radio commentaries, and $10,125 in honorariums.

Seymour has tried to make an issue of Feinstein’s unwillingness to provide copies of her tax returns to reporters. But Feinstein and Blum did allow The Times--and a certified public accountant hired by The Times--to study their returns at the office of their accountant.

The Boxers similarly made their returns available at their accountant’s office, and allowed Robert Mah, the San Francisco CPA hired by The Times, to review them. Mah also reviewed Seymour’s returns.

Mah said people with income of $500,000 or more generally pay 32% or more in taxes. He described the Boxers’ return as “cookie cutter,” with their main deduction being a home mortgage. They sheltered small amounts of income in limited partnerships.

The Feinstein-Blum returns also showed that they were not involved in tax sheltering schemes, Mah said. Over the past five years, Feinstein and Blum have paid as much as 33.4% of their adjusted gross income in taxes, and as little as 10.5% in 1987 when their income dipped to $1 million.

“They’re paying their taxes,” Mah said. “There is no significant shelter, other than a retirement plan which most people (at that income level) would have.”

Blum invests his money and the money of his clients in companies and other ventures, ranging from airlines to cable television. A substantial portion of Feinstein and Blum’s income is from capital gains. Last year, they received $1.8 million in capital gains from the sale of various stocks.

Feinstein has a trust, which predates her marriage to Blum, valued at more than $1 million. But the former San Francisco mayor reported no salary of her own in 1991 or 1990.

She did, however, collect a $62,500 advance for a book in 1990, the year she ran for governor and lost to Pete Wilson. Her expenses exceeded the advance, her tax return showed. The book has not been published.

Feinstein and Blum gave an average of $121,000 a year over the past five years to charity. The Boxers gave an average of $6,215 during the past five years.

Over the last five years, Seymour reported to the Internal Revenue Service that he gave an average of $1,351 a year to charity. But that sum reflected $6,340 in donations last year. In other years, he gave less--$25 in 1990 and $9 in 1989.