POLITICS: The Kennedy 1040

For incumbents and campaigning hopefuls, 1974 has become the Year of Financial Disclosure. So far, 85 members of Congress have made their tax returns public or revealed their net financial worth; others say they are preparing to open their books to the public or are considering doing so. Last week Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy released his U.S. tax return for 1973, thereby displaying what will surely be a political asset: he paid a lot of taxes.

On a total income of $461,444, the Senator paid almost half—$217,844—in federal taxes. The bulk of the income, $418,004, came from four of the trust funds set up by the late Joseph P. Kennedy for his children. Two of these trusts, yielding taxable income of $340,427, were set up for Ted, while two others are his share of trusts originally established for his brother Joseph and sister Kathleen. After their deaths, the trusts were divided among the surviving Kennedy children. In addition to his Senator's salary of $42,500, Kennedy also earned $3,335 in writing and speaking fees and received $3,507 in income from his minor interests in four oil wells in Texas and Louisiana.

Tantalizing Clues. Kennedy released only his federal tax return, not a full statement of his assets and net worth. Nevertheless, the return provides tantalizing clues to the possible dimensions of his personal fortune. If the income Kennedy received last year from his trusts represents a modest 5% return on investments, the principal would amount to about $8.36 million. On his tax returns, his $94,744 in deductions included a hefty $20,434 in mortgage interest payments and $8,180 in real estate taxes for his home in McLean, Va., $3,171 for his house in Hyannis Port, Mass., plus $3,890 interest on a chattel mortgage for his 50-ft. sloop Curragh. He also claimed losses of $3,938 from two rental properties in Boston and Madison, Wis. Though the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, of which the Senator is president, has given an average $2 million a year to charity since 1946, Kennedy made personal charitable contributions in 1973 of $4,678—objects unspecified. He also took the maximum allowable $25 credit for "contributions to candidates for public office."

Kennedy gave copies of the return to two Boston papers, the Globe and Herald American, which had been pressing him for a financial accounting. Previously, Kennedy had refused to divulge such information, arguing that his finances are so intertwined with those of his family that to do so would jeopardize their privacy. But he added that he would expect the family to understand if he made such disclosures as a candidate for national office. Thus, some saw in last week's move a significant clue to his intentions for 1976.