Bushes’ Income Is Dwarfed by Cheneys’

President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush reported a net taxable income of $744,682 for 2000 and paid $240,342 in federal income taxes, White House figures released Friday show.

But both those numbers were dwarfed by income figures released for Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, which showed the couple had an adjusted gross income of $36 million last year and paid more than $14 million in federal taxes.

The White House provided the Bushes’ federal Form 1040 without attachments and released only a statement that summarized Cheney’s tax information.

The president’s 2000 income included his salary as governor of Texas and investment income from the state and federal blind trusts in which the Bushes’ assets are held.

They contributed $143,300 to churches and various charities. Of that, $75,000 came from royalties of “A Charge to Keep,” the president’s best-selling autobiography. Among the organizations that received the first family’s contributions were the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of America, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Girls Inc., the White House said.

The vice president’s wage and salary income included $806,332 in salary and $4,333,500 in deferred compensation and bonuses from Halliburton Co., the energy services firm where Cheney served as chief executive officer until he resigned on Aug. 16 to become Bush’s running mate.

According to the vice president’s office, Cheney also received a cash bonus of $1,451,398 from Halliburton in January. That payment will be included in his 2001 tax return.

The overwhelming balance of the remaining wage and salary income on the Cheney tax return was from the exercise of stock options and from the sale of restricted Halliburton stock that he received as compensation, according to the White House.

The vice president also reported $1,943,948 in short-term capital losses, the bulk of which was incurred by the stock he and Mrs. Cheney sold to avoid conflicts of interest. The couple also reported $823,509 in long-term capital gains, the White House said.

In addition to the $41,646 that the Cheneys gave to charity, they donated the benefit of all their remaining stock options, with an estimated value of $7.8 million, to three organizations, the White House said. The beneficiaries were identified as Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-area educational assistance program for low-income youths; the George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates; and the University of Wyoming.

Last year, the tax return of then-President Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, showed an adjusted gross income of $416,039 for 1999, about $200,000 of which came from his salary. They paid $92,104 in federal income taxes.

The 1999 returns of former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, showed the couple had an adjusted gross income of $240,930--$175,400 from his salary as vice president--and paid $62,051 in federal income taxes.

The information on Bush and Cheney was made available to reporters covering Bush in Texas, where he is spending the Easter weekend with family members on his 1,600-acre ranch in Crawford, about 15 miles west of Waco.

Bush arrived there Thursday evening and is expected to stay until returning to Washington on Sunday night. His parents, former President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, are expected at the ranch today. Also at the ranch are Jenna Welch, the first lady’s mother; and Jenna Bush, one of the first family’s daughters.