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Clinton releases 1995 tax return

WASHINGTON: President Bill Clinton and his wife paid more than $75,000 in federal income taxes last year on earnings of more than $300,000, while their teenage daughter earned nearly $12,500, data released on Friday showed.

Asked what advice he might offer millions of Americans still trying to meet next Monday's deadline for paying taxes, Clinton smiled and said: "I always try to pay them."

"I've got an accountant and I told him to resolve all doubt in favour of the government and go on. That's what I've been saying for 20 years now," he said.

Clinton, who has a $200,000 annual salary, and his wife Hillary had an adjusted gross income of $316,074 and paid a federal income tax of $75,437. They were entitled to a refund of $5,656 but applied it to their 1996 taxes.

A special blind trust set up for the Clintons when they moved into the White House in 1993 earned them $88,441 in capital gains last year and provided them with more than $20,000 in interest and dividends.

According to their joint return, the Clintons donated $30,310 to charities, of which two-thirds went to three churches where the first family worships.

In addition to federal taxes, the Clintons paid state taxes in Arkansas of $17,005 and some tax to California on money the president received for reruns of an appearance he made in 1988 on the Johnny Carson television programme.

Although they live in the White House, the Clintons deducted $4,321 in mortgage payments for a home they own jointly in Arkansas with Dorothy Rodham, the first lady's mother.

The Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, received $12,468 in royalties from the sale of a book by the president's late mother and was required to pay $1,774 in federal taxes. Clinton declined to accept the money and, under Arkansas law, it automatically went to Chelsea, the White House said.

The White House also released the tax returns of Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, who had adjusted gross income of $235,974 and paid $71,493 in federal taxes. The Gores also overpaid their taxes and applied the $1,093 amount to their 1996 tax.-Reuter