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Josh Kraft reportedly declines to release full tax returns, shares summary instead
Josh Kraft earned $6.3 million last year, according to a document released to media outlets.
Mayoral candidate Josh Kraft recently provided a summary of his tax return information to media outlets, but is reportedly not planning to release his full tax returns.
The news comes as Kraft seeks to eat away at a commanding 30-point lead held by Mayor Michelle Wu with only about a month to go before voters head to the polls for the first time in this year’s mayoral race.
Kraft earned $6.3 million in 2024. He reported giving $269,000 to charity, and his total federal and state income tax was projected to be $2,570,000, according to the summary, which was provided to Boston.com Monday.
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In 2023, Kraft earned $6.5 million and reported giving $297,000 to charity. His total federal and state income tax for 2023 was $2,188,000, according to the summary.
Kraft told the The Boston Globe earlier this year that he would release his tax returns. Instead, his campaign shared a two-page summary from Ernst & Young LLP with Boston.com and other media outlets. His campaign confirmed to the Globe that his full tax returns would not be made public. The campaign declined to share details on the sources of Kraft’s income, saying only that it includes salary, interest, dividends, and capital gains.
“Josh is providing an accurate picture of his personal finances based on the past two years of tax filings, including total annual income and charitable donations, as well as state and federal income tax payments,” a spokesperson for the Kraft campaign said in a statement. “In fact, the information being shared today is far beyond what is legally required of a candidate. Josh has been clear with the public that he was born into privilege, and that his family’s success has allowed him to pursue a career of community service and non-profit work, primarily in the neighborhoods of Boston.”
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For months, Wu has sought to portray her opponent as a wealthy outsider more beholden to donors than everyday Bostonians. A day after the polling results were released showing her with a comfortable lead, Wu called for Kraft to release his financial documents.
“The Mayor of Boston should work for the people of Boston and no one else, without hidden financial interests, conflicts, and entanglements. Mayor Wu has released her full and complete financials every year for the last 12 years. Josh Kraft promised to do so months ago, and we’re still waiting,” a spokesperson for the Wu campaign said in a statement Monday.
Wu shared her 2024 tax return and other financial documents with the Globe in May, on the condition that the paper not publish the documents themselves. She made just over $184,000 in federal gross income last year. Wu and her husband paid about $32,400 in federal and state taxes in 2024 and did not report any charitable donations.
Although many politicians release their tax returns, the practice is not mandated by law and is not universal. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a close Wu ally, does release hers each year. Shannon Liss-Riordan, a Democrat who ran for Massachusetts attorney general in 2022 with Wu’s endorsement, declined to release her tax returns that year.
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Ernst & Young is preparing Kraft’s taxes, and the summary notes that it will be adjusted when “additional external information” is made available. However, this information is “not expected to be significant.”
Big donations for Kraft
Kraft himself has outraised Wu, while a super PAC supporting his bid for mayor has been infused by large dollar donations from prominent businesspeople. Both New Balance Chairman Jim Davis and Fanatics founder Michael Rubin contributed $1 million each. Fenway Sports Group President Michael Gordon and Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish are also supporting the PAC with substantial donations.
Kraft’s father, billionaire Patriots owner Robert Kraft, potentially opens up doorways to wealthy donors. But the elder Kraft’s longstanding connections to President Donald Trump risk weighing down his son’s campaign with an electorate that largely dislikes the current president.
Josh Kraft has denounced Trump repeatedly, despite Wu’s attempts to link him to the president. During a speech Sunday at the Iron Workers Local 7 Union Hall in Boston, he had harsh words for Trump.
“Donald Trump isn’t just another politician,” Kraft said. “He has actively attacked democratic institutions, and stoked hatred and division. He’s made life harder for the very people my parents — especially my mom — raised me to fight for.”
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But the election, Kraft said, is not about who has the best “anti-Trump sound bite.” Instead, the best way to beat back Trump is by building coalitions and solving concrete problems through sound governance.
A shift in tone?
In the early days of the race, the super PAC backing Kraft spent big on attack ads targeting Wu. The PAC cannot officially be tied to Kraft’s campaign, but perceptions of negative campaigning have done Kraft no favors, as evidenced by the latest polling. In his remarks Sunday, Kraft sought to distance himself from those notions.
“Today, I’m challenging the mayor to stop with the falsehoods and innuendo and join me in making this campaign about who has the best vision and ideas to help the people of Boston,” he said. “Let’s make this a competition of ideas, not personal attacks.”
Boston’s preliminary election will take place on Sept. 9. Kraft and Wu are expected to be the top two vote-getters, paving the way for a showdown in the municipal election in November.
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