That's probably the simplest piece of information found on Form 1040 of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's tax returns, which were made available for "viewing" by his campaign this morning here in Sacramento. After that, it gets a lot more complicated.

The campaign released returns only for the 2002, 2003, and 2004 tax years-- 263 pages in all. They show that Schwarzenegger's income in his first full year as governor actually went up from the year before. But the sources of that income are now largely obscured behind the walls of a blind trust established after he was elected in the 2003 recall.

The headlines: Schwarzenegger's adjusted earnings in 2004 were $16,780,186. Of that, he paid a combined total of $3,973,679 in federal and state taxes.

That's compared to total earnings of $13,875,792 in 2003 and $24,106,772 in 2002. The 2002 year, by the way, reflects his hefty paycheck for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Even so, 2004 seemed to have been a pretty good year financially for Schwarzenegger. That was due to both the strength of the blind trust investments and to things like movie royalties, according to the governor's investment manager, Paul Wachter.

Wachter spent about an hour this afternoon going over the governor's finances with reporters. As the tax returns show, most of the governor's income now comes from the blind trust, which is comprised of items similar to the dozens of stocks and other items that appear on his 2002 and 2003 returns.

But about a quarter of Schwarzenegger's 2004 income is listed as "salary" from the company he owns, Oak Productions. That same company also pays many of Schwarzenegger's expenses (like a personal jet and his Sacramento hotel lodgings) that are later reimbursed by political donors. The company, said Wachter, is also the "pass through" entity into which money was paid from the (now disbanded) fitness magazine consulting contract.

Wachter vigorously defended the passive role of the governor in his personal finances. "He is completely disengaged," said Wachter.

(It should be noted that Democratic challengers Phil Angelides and Steve Westly have previously their own tax returns, and for more years than Schwarzeneggr. It could be argued that Westly is the most cash-rich candidate, but all three men are multi-millionaires.)

As for other notables in the returns: Schwarzenegger paid a $14,283 penalty for underpayment of estimated state taxes in 2004... he often overpaid his federal taxes... he paid $390,472 in wages for household employees in 2004... and between 2002 and 2004 he gave a total of $2,525,803 to charity, including about 1200 shares of stock in Starbuck's to schools attended by his kids.

(A sidenote: the returns only reflect the governor's finances. First Lady Maria Shriver, according to the documents, files separately.)