During the 2012 presidential campaign Gingrich, a Republican and former House speaker, released a tax return that showed income of about $3 million from an S corporation, Gingrich Productions, according to Tax Notes. He paid himself a salary of about $450,000, with the remainder treated as S corporation net income to him that wasn’t subject to payroll taxes. That cost the government $73,950 in employment taxes, Tax Notes said.
Edwards, who ran for the Democratic vice presidential nomination in 2004, disclosed that his S corporation paid him an annual salary of about $360,000, with more than $5 million per year that escaped payroll taxes.
“Some wealthy business owners knowingly mischaracterize their income as business profits instead of salary to avoid Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes,” the Democrats’ list of options says.
Gingrich didn’t respond to messages left on his phone asking for comment. Edwards also couldn’t be reached through his former campaign scheduler, Matthew Nelson.