Democratic-led house to release Trump’s tax return in coming days

Picture Courtesy: BBC

The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee said today that it would release former President Donald Trump’s tax returns in coming days and indicated that the IRS failed to properly audit the former president’s taxes while he was in office.

The committee, in its reports, also detailed six years’ worth of the former president’s tax returns, including his claims of massive annual losses that significantly reduced his tax burden.

The release of Trump’s tax returns marks the conclusion of a nearly four-year legal battle House Democrats waged against the former president after they took control of the House in 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday evening that the House would “move swiftly” to advance the legislation, even though Congress is days away from adjourning.

Chairman Richard Neal charged that the required audit of Trump’s taxes “did not occur,” as his returns were only subjected to the mandatory audit once, in 2019, after Democrats inquired. He said to the reporters, "The research that was done as it relates to the mandatory audit program was nonexistent.”

Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the committee, attacked Democrats for weaponizing Trump’s financial information. Brady said that the committee voted to release Trump’s returns for six years, along with returns from eight affiliated businesses. He said, “What became clear is that almost all those audits that the IRS is doing is not yet complete. So any characterizations of the returns themselves, you have to acknowledge, this is incomplete at this time.”