--- title: Democratic Debate: Sanders Pledges to Release Tax Returns description: Sanders insists his wife, Jane, handles their taxes canonical: https://time.com/4295446/bernie-sanders-tax-returns-jane-sanders/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-15T01:52:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:16.168Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bernie Sanders Promises to Release Tax Returns Soon og:description: He blamed his wife, Jane, for the delay. og:url: https://time.com/4295446/bernie-sanders-tax-returns-jane-sanders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c6811d1fb0e5956/69888f3dcd1bbaf600700444/democratic_debate_c.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4608 og:image:height: 2592 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Spar At Democratic Debate In Brooklyn og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bernie Sanders Promises to Release Tax Returns Soon twitter:description: He blamed his wife, Jane, for the delay. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c6811d1fb0e5956/69888f3dcd1bbaf600700444/democratic_debate_c.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bernie Sanders Promises to Release Tax Returns Soon > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f575e62c-8881-4a48-be95-310ab9bd90b7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 15, 2016 1:52 AM UTC  Democratic Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders debate during the CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 14, 2016 in New York City. Democratic Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders debate during the CNN Democratic Presidential Primary Debate at the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 14, 2016 in New York City. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Apr 15, 2016 1:52 AM UTC Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders pledged to make his tax returns public soon at a Democratic debate Thursday night. “We’ll get our tax returns out. We’ve been busy; you might have noticed,” Sanders said Thursday. Sanders has insisted, and reiterated on Thursday, that his wife Jane is responsible for the taxes in their household. The Vermont Senator, whose campaign has hinged on his promise to curb on corporate creed, also said Thursday he is one of the “poorer” members of the Senate and therefore his tax returns will not say much. A [ranking of the wealth of members of Congress](http://media.cq.com/50Richest/) based on official disclosure forms in October by the Washington-based newspaper Roll Call [placed Sanders as No. 340](http://www.rollcall.com/politics/senators-running-president-trail-congressional-colleagues-net-worth/), with a minimum net worth of $163,000: --- > “” --- The Senator has repeatedly dodged the release of his returns. In a recent interview, Jane said that the couple had released their full returns for the past several years. A fact check from the Washington _Post_ [found that statement to be untrue. ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/04/12/recidivism-watch-jane-sanders-repeats-bernie-sanderss-four-pinocchio-claim-that-they-released-full-tax-returns/) The topic of Sanders’ tax returns came up Thursday after former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressed about releasing the transcripts from high paid speeches she delivered to major financial institutions. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4295446/bernie-sanders-tax-returns-jane-sanders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4295446/bernie-sanders-tax-returns-jane-sanders/"},"headline":"Bernie Sanders Promises to Release Tax Returns Soon","datePublished":"2016-04-15T01:52:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:16.168Z","description":"Sanders insists his wife, Jane, handles their taxes","url":"https://time.com/4295446/bernie-sanders-tax-returns-jane-sanders/","keywords":["Debates","2016 Election","Taxes","Bernie Sanders"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c6811d1fb0e5956/69888f3dcd1bbaf600700444/democratic_debate_c.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c6811d1fb0e5956/69888f3dcd1bbaf600700444/democratic_debate_c.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Spar At Democratic Debate In Brooklyn","caption":"Hillary Clinton And Bernie Sanders Spar At Democratic Debate In Brooklyn","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4295446/bernie-sanders-tax-returns-jane-sanders/","name":"Bernie Sanders Promises to Release Tax Returns Soon"}}]}] ```