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McCain taxes put spotlight on wife

Sen. John McCain, with his wife, Cindy, at his side, speaks to reporters in Phoenix on Feb. 5. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Ralph Vartabedian and Maeve Reston Los Angeles Times
Sen. John McCain, with his wife, Cindy, at his side, speaks to reporters in Phoenix on Feb. 5. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Sen. John McCain reported income of $405,409 last year, but the money he spent on charitable contributions, wages to household staff, alimony and taxes ate up most of that – showing how his wife, Cindy McCain, helped support a wealthy lifestyle.

McCain on Friday released his 2007 and 2006 tax returns, but not those of his wife, whose income from ownership of a beer distributor far exceeds $1 million, according to financial disclosure statements filed previously in the Senate.

McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, had never before released his tax returns; outside groups estimate his and his wife’s combined wealth at between $28 million and $100 million.

John and Cindy McCain, married since 1980, file separate tax returns and hold a wide range of assets separately. The McCain campaign said Cindy McCain would not release her tax returns in “the interest of protecting the privacy of her children.”

In 2007, McCain earned a Senate salary of $161,708 and book royalties of $176,508. His wife earned a salary of $432,991 as chairwoman of her company. Since he filed separately, John McCain’s return lists half of his income and half of his wife’s salary. McCain’s return does not include a large stream of dividends, capital gains, private investment profits and interest that went solely to his wife and her dependents.

The McCains own four homes across the nation and employ a staff of at least four that in 2007 cost about $273,000, half of which was listed on McCain’s tax return. McCain and his wife’s properties, all held mortgage-free, include their creek-side ranch outside Sedona, Ariz. In 2006, they purchased a $4.7 million condo in Phoenix; and in 2004, she bought a $2.6 million beachfront property near the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego County, according to property records.

Despite the large real estate holdings and his wife’s business empire, the senator appears to own few income-producing assets individually. In 2007, he reported interest income of just $48 and dividends of $74.