President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden released their 2010 tax returns on April 18, 2011.

Obama reported $1,795,614 of total income, which consists mostly of his salary as president ($395,188) and proceeds from the sale of his books ($1,382,889). Obama also itemized his deductions, reporting deductions for state income taxes, property taxes, mortgage interest and charity. The Obamas paid federal income taxes of $416,734, roughly 23% of their total income. Obama also contributed to the maximum to a pre-tax retirement plan based his self-employed book proceeds.

The Bidens reported total income of $379,178 on their 2010 tax return, which consists mostly of the vice president's salary of $255,888 and Jill Biden's salary as a college teacher of $82,488. The Bidens also itemized, taking deductions for state income tax, property tax, mortgage interest, and charity. Like many other taxpayers, the Bidens got hit with the Alternative Minimum Tax. The Bidens paid federal income taxes of $86,407, roughly 23% of their total income.

The President also released copies of his federal gift tax return and his Illinois state return. The Bidens included copies of their Delaware and Virginia tax returns.

Download Obama's 2010 tax return and Biden's 2010 tax return from the White House Web site.

The Tax History Project has compiled several presidential tax returns.

The White House has released a simple calculator showing where your federal tax dollars for 2010 were spent. It's called Your 2010 Federal Taxpayer Receipt.

Using the calculator is pretty simple. Simply type in your Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes and federal income taxes paid in 2010, and the calculator will return results showing where your tax dollars were spent. Social Security taxes, naturally, go to pay for Social Security benefits. Similarly, Medicare taxes pay for Medicare benefits. The calculator then breaks down your federal income tax dollars by various federal programs for defense, health care, international aid, and science and technology programs. You can click the "Expand All Sub-Categories" link to reveal further details.

Very interesting to me, the top five federal expenses by percentage are:

• Defense at 26.3%
• Health care at 24.3%
• Job and Family Security at 21.9%
• Net interest payments at 7.4%, and
• Education and Job Training at 4.8%.

Learn more about:

• 2010 Federal Budget (About US Economy)
• Where Do Social Security and Medicare Taxes Go? (About Financial Planning)

Taxpayers have until October 17th, 2011, to file their 2010 personal income tax return. The best thing to do is to take your time to make sure all your income and various deductions are complete before sending in your return. The IRS e-file system stays open until October 17th (the extension deadline), so you can still file electronically if you want to.

• TaxACT Free Online Extension.

Takes about 4 minutes, and it's free. Click "File your free tax extension now" link on their home page. TaxACT provided a very straightforward experience. Simply create a username, enter your personal information, and the Web site walks you through the e-filing process. A nice touch: TaxACT has the ability to send you a text message to notify you when the IRS has processed your extension. TaxACT will let you set up a direct withdrawal from your checking or savings account to pay you estimated tax liability.

• TurboTax Easy Extension.

Takes about 4 minutes, and it's also free. Click "Start Easy Extension" from TurboTax's extension page. This year, TurboTax has produced a slick and easy to use extension program. Register for the site, input your information, and TurboTax guides you through the steps. There's even an option to open TaxCaster, a tax estimating utility, in a new browser window. This can help you get a rough idea of how much you might owe. Allows you to pay your tax using a direct withdrawal from your bank account.