Santorum took in $3.6M in four years; highest tax rate was 28.3%

(CNN) – Rick Santorum’s latest four years of tax returns show he earned more than a total of $3.6 million, according to spokeswoman Alice Stewart.

In 2010, his most recent year of tax returns, Santorum earned $930,230 and paid $263,440 in taxes at a rate of 28.3%.

In 2009, he took in $1.1 million in income and paid $310,212 in taxes at a rate of 27.5%.

In 2008, Santorum earned $952,630 and paid $262,100 in taxes at a rate of 27.5%.

In 2007, his first year out of the Senate, Santorum took in $668,480 in income and paid $167,760 in taxes at a rate of 25.1%.

Santorum and his wife, Karen, filed jointly each year.

“I worked very hard - in many cases, six or seven jobs a year,” Santorum said Wednesday in an interview on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

He added that he had a “couple of setbacks,” including a 40% drop in the value of his house, mortgage payments, and medical bills for his child born with a disability.

The candidate said he decided to release the four years since he’s been out of the Senate and in the private sector. He said he did not keep his tax returns while he served in Congress as a two-term senator and two-term congressman.

Santorum has been promising for about a month to release his taxes, but has delayed doing so. He originally said he had to return home to get them off his computer, since he says he does his own taxes.

Then, after he returned home to collect the information nearly three weeks ago, he told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King he was consulting with an accountant to make sure all the information was correct.

Santorum aides emphasized and underscored that he released four years' worth of tax information – twice as many as chief rival Mitt Romney.

Last month, Romney and his wife Ann reported making $21.7 million in 2010 income and paying $3 million in federal taxes. They said his 2011 income was nearly $21 million, with a $3.2 million tax bill. Their effective tax rate – the percentage of his income owed in federal taxes – was 14.5 %.

Newt Gingrich released only one year of his income taxes – 2010. He reported making $3.1 million and paying $994,708 in taxes. He was taxed at a rate of 31%.

Numbers from Santorum’s tax returns were first reported Wednesday night by POLITICO.

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