Terri Lynn Land
Chad Livengood of The Detroit News reports that Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Gary Peters and his wife paid an effective 18 percent in in federal income taxes in the past three years while Republican opponent Terri Lynn Land paid 3 percent on her income after taking big deductions.
Lynn says the deductions are the result of donating money to charities.
Livengood writes:
Peters released three years of income tax returns exclusively to The Detroit News that show he and his wife, Colleen, jointly earned $230,642 in 2011, $244,248 in 2012 and $253,889 last year. After deductions, the Bloomfield Township couple paid an effective tax rate of about 18 percent to 18.9 percent on their income, which includes Peters’ $174,000 salary as a member of Congress.
Land’s payments to the tax man are less clear. In July, Land released her 2012 and 2013 tax records to The News, showing she filed separately from her husband, Daniel Hibma — a wealthy west Michigan developer — and earned $44,726 in 2012 and $89,729 in 2013. Her effective tax rate was 2.7 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
The report also raises questions as to why Land hasn't released her husband's income considering that Land has drawn on a joint marital bank account and taken $3 million for her campaign, the News reports.
“How does someone make $89,000 a year, yet has $3 million to spend on their campaign?” Peters asked. “Folks are right to ask questions. How does that happen?”
