Reagan Reveals His Income

Winning the presidency would cost him a bundle

Throughout his political career, Ronald Reagan refused "as a matter of principle" to reveal his tax returns, arguing that politicians are as deserving of privacy as ordinary citizens. But now that he is a candidate for President, says Aide Lyn Nofziger, "he kind of forfeits his right to privacy." Not to mention the fact that Reagan's secrecy about his private finances offered a tempting issue to his probable Democratic rival, Jimmy Carter, who regularly discloses his personal finances. Accordingly, Reagan last week released his 1979 federal income tax return.

It showed that the Republican nominee is outrunning Carter in the pocketbook as well as in the polls. While the President earned $275,136 and paid $64,944 in federal taxes last year, the G.O.P. candidate, who listed his occupation as "private business," reported a taxable income of $515,878 and federal taxes of $230,886. His net worth is estimated to be more than $3 million; Carter's was $893,304 in 1979.

Most of Reagan's income came from fees for speeches ($380,500), radio commentaries on 200 stations ($58,453) and biweekly newspaper columns, other articles and book royalties ($26,757), nearly all of which ended in mid-November when he formally became a candidate. Such fees totaled $465,710, from which he subtracted $166,733 in business expenses, including payments to his agents and ghostwriter. Reagan also received interest and dividends of $114,348 and gross profits of $234,500 from the sale of $953,975 worth of stock in eleven companies. Reagan's trustees sold the stock to invest in high-yield money-market instruments.

Altogether, Reagan filled 23 pages to report his income, including Schedule F for his 688-acre Rancho del Cielo retreat near Santa Barbara. He reported that the ranch, which he uses mostly for pleasure, earned $3,024 from the sale of 14 head of cattle and $3,350 from grazing land that is leased to a neighbor. Expenses totaled $15,479, including payments for a hired hand ($3,839), repairs on a Jeep ($2,363) and "horseshoeing" ($367). All told, Reagan showed a $9,105 loss on the ranch operations, which saved him roughly $4,500 in federal taxes. IRS rules require that ranches like Reagan's turn a profit in two out of every five years to qualify for tax write-offs. Rancho del Cielo has never made money in Reagan's six years of ownership, but Trustee William French Smith explains that the ranch meets an IRS exemption for "developing properties" because Reagan intends to make profits in the near future by converting more acreage into grazing land.

The tax return also gave a few glimpses into the candidate's private life. He listed only $12 in finance charges on credit cards, indicating that he is prompt in paying his bills. He spent almost as much on postage ($2,518) as he did on doctors and dentists ($2,611). He gave only $4,108 to charities in 1979, a fourth of Jimmy Carter's $ 15,438 in donations. One other entry confirmed that Reagan is a thorough money manager: Daughter Maureen paid him $481 in interest on a loan.

One box on the tax form was left unchecked. When Reagan and his wife Nancy signed their joint return in April 2, 1980, they both chose not to divert $1 apiece to the federal fund for financing presidential elections. Reagan had long been on the record as opposing such funding. But when he began running out of money after his surprise defeat in the Iowa caucuses, he had little choice but to accept federal funds. He received $7 million during the primaries, and two weeks ago got $29.4 million for the fall campaign.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.