Fattah: Can't disclose tax data

Citing his wife's confidential salary agreement, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah yesterday became the only one of Philadelphia's five major mayoral candidates to decline to release his recent income tax returns.

Fattah said he cannot disclose the returns he files jointly with his wife, NBC10 anchorwoman Renee Chenault-Fattah, because her contract bars her from revealing her salary.

After the Daily News yesterday published a headline calling Fattah's confidentiality claim "bogus," Chenault-Fattah agreed to an Inquirer request to provide a copy of the non-disclosure clause of her television contract.

The contract states that NBC has the right to terminate the agreement "in the event of an actual or attempted breach of confidentiality."

Fattah yesterday turned down the paper's request to disclose all portions of the couple's tax returns that would not reveal the NBC salary or otherwise violate his wife's confidentiality agreement. That would include any income from interest, dividends, real estate or business.

Fattah said he had no income other than his $165,000 congressional salary and a $360 monthly pension from the state for having previously served as a legislator. He provided the newspaper with his W-2 wage and tax statements from Congress.

"I do not own, nor have I ever owned, any stock or income-producing real estate," Fattah said in a statement. "My career has been one of public service."

Fattah's refusal to fully disclose his household's income has become an issue in the campaign for the May 15 Democratic mayoral primary. Three other candidates have revealed their tax forms to journalists from both The Inquirer and the Daily News. State Rep. Dwight Evans has promised to disclose his tax returns as soon as he locates them.

Fattah, a six-term congressman, noted in his statement that as a legislator and then a congressman, he had filed government-mandated financial disclosure forms for 25 years; his three most recent disclosures are on his campaign's Web site.

Those forms report that his wife earns an unspecified salary from General Electric Corp., the parent company of NBC10, and that she holds up to $250,000 worth of GE stock in a 401(k) account. Fattah also discloses his legislative pension and congressional salary.

In his congressional disclosure, Fattah reported two lines of credit, with Wachovia Bank and the Wright Patman Federal Credit Union, allowing him to borrow up to $50,000 on each account.

A financial statement filed this month with his candidacy petitions listed three additional bank loans. The amounts were not disclosed.

"I strongly believe in government transparency and accountability, and it was with that principle in mind that I have agreed to provide as much information about myself as possible throughout this campaign," Fattah said in his statement yesterday.

"Weeks ago, my office told The Inquirer that we would be happy to provide financial documents. Since then, my office has consistently said that there would be challenges regarding the wholesale release of my jointly filed income tax returns because of confidentiality obligations."

The W-2s Fattah made available covered his congressional wages for the years 2004-2006.

His reported wage statement from 2006 was typical: His salary totalled $165,000, and he had $28,092 withheld for federal income taxes and $5,064 withheld for Pennsylvania tax. The House of Representatives withheld no money from his salary for the Philadelphia wage tax - non-city employers are not required to withhold the tax. But since he is a city resident, Fattah's federal salary is subject to the wage tax. Rebecca Kirszner, his campaign spokeswoman, said he paid $8,400 in city wage taxes last year in quarterly installments.

Fattah also reported having diverted $45,500 from his congressional salary in the last three years into a retirement savings account, reducing his taxable income each year.

While his congressional-disclosure forms note his wife's 401(k) retirement account, those forms do not mention the congressman's own retirement account. Kirszner said there was no requirement to disclose that account on the congressional forms.

Fattah did not disclose any deductions claimed on the couple's taxes - since some deductions would reveal his family's gross income, thus violating the NBC contract's confidentiality clause. In response to The Inquirer's request, he said yesterday that he and his wife took deductions for charitable contributions of $9,112 in 2005 and $4,450 in 2004.

Chenault-Fattah declined to comment on the confidentiality agreement she has with NBC10.

A Fattah campaign staff member showed a reporter the eight-page "Station Standard Provisions" addendum to Chenault-Fattah's contract to verify that it contained the confidentiality agreement. The document was dated Jan. 8.

The Inquirer recently requested copies of five years of federal income tax returns from Philadelphia's five major Democratic mayoral candidates. Here is a summary of their responses:

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah yesterday declined the request, saying disclosure of his joint returns would violate his wife's contract with NBC10, where anchorwoman Renee Chenault-Fattah is barred from revealing her salary. He declined to reveal non-wage portions of the couple's tax returns, which would not be covered by the TV contract. He provided his wage and tax summaries.

U.S. Rep. Bob Brady provided returns for six years. He and his wife, Debra, reported federal adjusted gross income of $246,428 in 2005.

Former Councilman Michael Nutter supplied returns for five years. He and his wife, Lisa, reported income of $176,742 in 2006.

Businessman Tom Knox disclosed three years of tax returns for himself and his wife, Linda. They reported income totaling $18.8 million from 2003 to 2005 from investments, including the sale of Fidelity Mutual Insurance Group to UnitedHealthcare in 2004.

State Rep. Dwight Evans has promised to share his tax returns as soon as he finds them. "He literally has them at his house," Evans spokesman Tim Spreitzer said yesterday. "He said he will go home tonight and get them."

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