WASHINGTON - Teresa Heinz Kerry, the wife of likely Democratic presidential candidateSen. John F. Kerry, held an estimated $58.6 million in tax-exempt securities last year -surpassing the estimated $13.2 million in tax-exempt securities held by Vice PresidentDick Cheney and his wife - according to information released by the Kerry campaign.
Heinz Kerry, an heir to the H. J. Heinz Co. ketchup and relish fortune, announcedWednesday that she has received an extension for filing her 2003 federal income taxreturn, and that she paid an estimated $750,000 in 2003 federal, state, and local incometaxes on the $5.1 million in income she earned in 2003.
Heinz Kerry married the Massachusetts Democrat in 1995. Previously, she was married toSen. H. John Heinz 3d, R-Pa. who was killed in a plane crash in 1991 after 25 years ofmarriage. Heinz's great grandfather founded the multinational food concern in 1869.
Of the $5.1 million she declared, $2.78 million was earned from interest in tax-exemptsecurities and $2.34 million was gained mostly from taxable dividends and interest.
Assuming a coupon rate of 4.74% - the average annual yield of The Bond Buyer's 20-general obligation bond index - Heinz Kerry owned an estimated $58.6 million of tax-exempt securities in 2003, according to The Bond Buyer's statistical staff.
That is more than the estimated $13.2 million of tax-exempt securities held by theCheneys in 2003 and more than the estimated $18,376 in tax-exempt securities held byKerry last year, according to an analysis of their tax returns. President Bush and hiswife, Laura, had no such holdings.
Of the $750,000 Heinz Kerry paid, $587,000 went towards federal income taxes for 2003,and $162,777 went to pay state and local income taxes. Heinz Kerry also said that shepaid a $280,000 prepayment for both the 2003 and 2004 tax years.
The food heiress also helps oversee the Heinz Family Foundation, a 501(c)(3) corporationestablished by Heinz Kerry and Heinz, which doled out $4.6 million in charitable grantslast year. The Heinz Family Foundation is principally funded by a charitable lead trust- the Teresa & H. John Heinz III Charitable Trust - which was formed as a result ofestate planning decisions made by Heinz and Heinz Kerry before his death.
Heinz Kerry, who files her taxes separately from Kerry, plans to release the first twopages of the Form 1040 for 2003 once it is prepared and filed in October.
The release of her tax information comes as questions have been raised over her abilityto garner political support using the philanthropic organizations she helps run. HeinzKerry has typically been opposed to releasing her own personal financial informationsince marrying Kerry, citing disclosures she has had to make under Senate rules.
"While I am not a candidate for any public office, a great deal of my financialinformation has been disclosed for many years on my husband's Senate Ethics Disclosureand now that he is a presidential candidate, with the Office of Government Ethics,"Heinz Kerry said in a written statement. "John and I believe this strikes a balancebetween my family's privacy and the media's requests for more financial information."
