SC Gov. Henry McMaster and wife, Peggy, reported $2.5M in income from 2015 through 2020
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and First Lady Peggy McMaster earned more than $2.5 million from 2015 to 2020, according to tax returns released Thursday by his office.
McMaster, who allowed reporters to examine the returns in order to provide insight into how the couple earns their money, has released his tax returns dating back to 2000.
During the most recent six-year period, the McMasters paid more than $647,000 in state and federal taxes. McMaster’s annual income has steadily declined since becoming governor in 2017, when he ascended to the office after then-Gov. Nikki Haley was named ambassador to the United Nations.
The couple’s 2021 return was not available, as they have filed for an extension to complete it, the governor’s office said.
McMaster is paid $106,000 for being governor, according to state salary database, but much of his income comes from rental properties he and his wife own around Columbia. In 2020, he reported income on 20 Columbia rental properties, including seven properties on Greene Street and four properties on Henderson Street. Many of the properties are occupied by college students.
Over the six-year period, the McMasters brought in more than $6 million in rent from their Columbia rental properties and reported $4.5 million in expenses on those properties, including more than $557,000 on maintenance and repairs.
Other expenses they reported included mortgage payments, taxes, utilities and exterminators.
Taxable income from the rental properties, the lion’s share of their income, has steadily dropped since McMaster became governor, tax records show.
The McMasters, who are both 75, also report income from social security benefits and distributions from a retirement account, and the governor gets a small amount from his father’s estate, which he manages for his family, the governor’s office said.
The couple has been generous with their money over the years.
They donated more than $150,000 to charity between 2015 and 2020, the vast majority going to the First Presbyterian Church in Columbia. In 2019 alone, they donated more than $26,000 to the church.
They also have donated to the Humane Society, Pawmetto Lifeline and the University of South Carolina School of Law, where the governor received his law degree, among other entities.
McMaster is running for reelection for a second full term in November. He is being challenged by Democrat Joe Cunningham, whose campaign said he would soon release his own tax returns.
“Joe is in the process of gathering his tax returns and will be releasing as soon as they are ready,” said Tyler Jones, the Cunningham campaign’s senior advisor.
By the numbers
McMasters annual income
▪ 2015 - $425,685
▪ 2016 - $431,661
▪ 2017 - $557,441
▪ 2018 - $427,931
▪ 2019 - $368,808
▪ 2020 - $351,765
Federal and state income taxes paid
▪ 2015 - $128,782
▪ 2016 - $119,620
▪ 2017 - $176,410
▪ 2018 - $89,371
▪ 2019 -$69,933
▪ 2020 - $63,229
