GOP's Jeb Bush to release 33 years of personal tax returns

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jeb Bush released a third of a century of his personal income tax returns on Tuesday, a record disclosure for presidential candidates.

"[...] it's a political requirement, if not a legal one," said Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project, a group that has collected tax forms for presidents and top presidential candidates since 1995.

The closest was Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican nominee, who released 29 years of his income tax returns.

Bush also earned less as governor — $129,000 his last year in office — than he did in the private sector, where he had been paid $755,000 annually by a development company in Coral Gables, Florida, before taking office.

Since leaving the public sector, Bush has served on the boards or as an adviser to at least 15 companies and nonprofits, earning at least $3.9 million from four companies alone since 2007.

Campaign spokeswoman Allie Brandenburger said Bush's decision to release the tax returns was "consistent with the high level of disclosure he has practiced during his life in public office."