Polis, Ganahl release tax returns in Colorado governor’s race

Gov. Jared Polis released his joint 2021 tax return Saturday night, following several days after his opponent, CU Regent Heidi Ganahl, uploaded three years’ worth of returns last week.

Polis and husband Marlon Reis reported more than $733,000 in gross income on their joint 1040 form in 2021, on more than $1 million in revenue and $315,000 in losses. Ganahl and husband Jason reported more than $1.2 million in gross income for the same year, according to her 1040 form.

Polis and Ganahl had both indicated they would release their returns during an early October debate, joint-hosted by CBS and the Colorado Sun. Moderators asked them if they would agree to post their returns within a few days. Polis said he would talk with Ganahl about additional releases. Ganahl said no such conversation was needed and that she would release hers. Then, at another debate on Oct. 25, Ganahl announced she had released her returns on her website and asked Polis if he would release his.

His campaign told the Denver Post last week that they were preparing to publicly release them, and his spokeswoman announced Saturday night that the campaign had done so.

“Governor Polis’s finances have been well vetted over the years as an elected official,” campaign spokeswoman Amber Miller said in an email, “and the Governor’s disclosures to this point offer far greater detail than any information his opponent has ever made public.”

Much of the income for both candidates came from sources outside of direct wages reported on standard W2 forms. Polis and Reis jointly reported nearly $81,000 in wages, plus more than $919,000 in unspecified dividends. The couple also wrote that they took roughly $315,000 in losses, though the source or reason is unclear. They took another $148,700 in deductions, for a total taxable income of $585,151.

Their total tax was over $87,300, though that was more than accounted for in $721,000 worth of rollover payments from last year. Polis and Reis indicated they wanted a refund of nearly $147,000 from that amount, leaving half a million dollars — still from 2020 — to be rolled over to be applied to their tax return for 2022.

The documents do not describe the source of the couple’s income or losses.

Ganahl and her husband, meanwhile, reported more than $1 million in taxable income last year. Of that, $391,000 came in the form of capital gains, and another $758,000 was from other income, which was not detailed. They owed a joint tax bill of $213,581 in 2021, of which nearly $59,000 was accounted for in other payments and credits. They ultimately owed the Internal Revenue Service $156,407.

The couple’s income last year topped that from their previous two years by a sizable margin. They reported more than $651,000 in gross income in 2020 and nearly $366,000 in 2019. Like in 2021, the bulk of that money in both years came from capital gains and other income not specified in the form 1040 released.