Bernie Sanders announces a timeline for releasing his tax returns after weeks of delays, admits that he’s now a millionaire

Associated Press

• Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday said he’ll release his tax returns by Tax Day on April 15.
• Sanders said he’ll release 10 years of tax returns.
• The Vermont senator also acknowledged that he’s a millionaire from book sales. 
• "I wrote a best-selling book. If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too," Sanders said.
• Sanders has faced particular pressure to do so given his status as the early frontrunner, limited tax return release in 2016, and criticism of Trump for not releasing his returns.
• Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday announced he’ll release 10 years of tax returns by Monday, April 15, after facing mounting pressure and criticism on the issue amid the start of his 2020 presidential campaign. 

"On the day in the very immediate future, certainly before April 15, we release ours, I hope that Donald Trump will do exactly the same," Sanders told The New York Times. "We are going to release 10 years of our tax returns, and we hope that on that day Donald Trump will do the same."

April 15 is also Tax Day, the end of the tax filing season.

Up to this point, Sanders had offered vague answers when asked for a timeline on the release of his returns. The senator was also criticized on this issue during the 2016 campaign season as he ran against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. 

Read more: Bernie Sanders has made more than $1.75 million from book royalties since 2016 — here’s what we know about his wealth and assets

Meanwhile, Sanders has pressured President Donald Trump to release his returns. The president broke decades of precedent by not doing so during the 2016 election and has refused to release any returns since taking office. House Democrats are currently working to obtain them, though the White House has sought to dismiss Trump’s returns as a non-issue. 

The Vermont senator, who’s often railed against the power and greed of "millionaires and billionaires," also acknowledged he’s now a millionaire.

First taking a jab at Trump, Sanders said, "Not being a billionaire, not having investments in Saudi Arabia, wherever he has investments, all over the world, mine will be a little bit more boring."

Read more: Bernie Sanders is leading the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, but being an early frontrunner doesn’t guarantee he’ll win

Senate financial disclosures from the past two years have shown that Sanders has found himself in the ranks of millionaires due to book royalties. Reminded of this fact, Sanders on Tuesday said, "I wrote a best-selling book. If you write a best-selling book, you can be a millionaire, too."

Only a handful of other 2020 Democrats have released tax returns so far within a broad field of candidates, but Sanders has faced particular pressure to do so given his status as the early frontrunner.

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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (John Haltiwanger)