Obamas declare earnings of £1.78 million for 2008

Tax return figures just released by the White House reveal that between them new American President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle earned $2.66 million last year.
 
The vast majority of the income came from royalties on sales of Mr Obama's two non-fiction books, his autobiography Dreams From My Father and the best-selling political manifesto The Audacity Of Hope. 
 
Covering a period from 2000 to 2006 the returns, which also show the couple donated over £115,000 to various charities and paid nearly £627,000 in tax, reflect the couple's changing financial situation with a steep increase in family income.
 
In 2000 their combined income - based on Barack's salary as a young state senator in Illinois and his wife's salary as a hospital administrator - was $240,505. By 2005 it had risen to $1.6 million.

Photo: © Getty Images