US House committee votes to publicly release report on Trump tax returns

A committee of the US House of Representatives has voted to publicly release a report on tax returns of former President Donald Trump, following a years-long court fight with the 76-year-old businessman-turned-politician who has accused the Demarcate-led panel of being politically motivated.

During a closed-door session on Tuesday night, the Ways and Means Committee, a body responsible for overseeing tax-related issues, voted 24-16 in what was considered as the last chance for the panel to broach the issue.

The panel, responsible for the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) oversight and writing tax policy, had for years sought and finally secured just a couple of weeks ago Trump’s tax returns for 2015 through 2020. The panel stated it aimed to review “how the IRS enforces the federal tax laws against, and ensures compliance by a president.”

The grim development for Trump, who on mid-November began his third consecutive run for the presidency, came as he repeatedly defied convention and refused to release his tax returns both as a presidential candidate and as a sitting leader serving at the White House.

According to Richard Neal, chairman of the committee, a summary of Trump’s tax returns between 2015 and 2021 will be partially redacted and released within days.

Title 26 of the US Code decrees that the US Treasury Department “shall furnish” the committee with “any return or return information” it requests. However, the Treasury Department in 2019, when the committee had initially requested the tax returns, refused to release Trump’s tax records. Trump, for his part, had also claimed he could not release the documents, as he was under an IRS audit, marking a significant break in bipartisan tradition.

Trump served as president from 2017 to 2021. He was the first president in four decades not to release his tax returns as he sought to keep secret the details of his wealth and the activities of his real estate company, the Trump Organization. It had long been customary, though not required, for major party presidential candidates to release their returns.

According to data released by the committee, Trump reported a burst of income after entering the White House, but by the end of his term, his tax filings had reverted to large losses, which allowed him to pay very little in taxes.

The figures showed in his first three years, he paid $1.1 million in federal income taxes before paying no tax due to his losses in 2020.

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