Paul Ryan releases 2 years of tax returns, paid average of 18 percent

ARLINGTON, Va.--Mitt Romney's campaign released two years of vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan's tax returns Friday, which show that he and his wife paid a 15.9 percent effective tax rate on an adjusted gross income of $215,417 in 2010 and a 20 percent rate on $323,416 in 2011--a weighted average of just over 18 percent for both years.

The documents were posted Friday on Romney's campaign website alongside Romney's financial disclosures.

On top of Ryan's $174,000 annual salary as congressman, he reported earning dividends of $29,987 in 2011 and $26,052 in 2010, the documents show.

The Ryan family gave $15,591 to charity over that two-year period, most of which--$12,991--was donated in 2011.

According to financial disclosure documents filed earlier, Ryan's net worth ranges between $2 million and $7.7 million.

Romney has released one year of returns so far and, despite pressure from Democrats to release several years of documents, he plans to release only his 2011 returns once they are prepared, he said.

During a meeting with reporters earlier this year, Ryan said that he does not prepare his own taxes.