Donald Trump’s tax returns will go public at noon after an almost four-year battle that saw the former president fight tooth and nail to hide his financial statements from the public.
The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee voted to make the earnings public last Tuesday night in a closed-door debate that lasted more than three hours.
The final vote was 24 to 16. All Democrats voted yes, but all Republicans on the panel voted against.
Six years of Trump’s latest tax returns and documents from eight of his businesses are covered. They are partially edited.
Donald Trump has been fighting to keep his tax returns from the House Ways and Means Committee for years
This was the first request made by Commission Chair Rep. Richard Neal in 2019 after Democrats regained the House majority in the 2018 “Blue Wave.”
The former president waged a lengthy legal battle to keep lawmakers from getting tax returns.
We don’t know exactly what new information will be unearthed when Return is released. The New York Times has already published extensive reports in 2018 and 2020 based on leaked tax information.
According to a 2020 report, Trump paid just $750 in income taxes in both 2016 and 2017 and has been out of business for 10 of the last 15 years after claiming millions in losses. There was no income tax at all.
When his business improved in 2018/19, he had $1.1 million in taxes, but after the pandemic hit, he again reported a huge loss of $5 million, which is why he has been cut short as president. I ended up paying $0 in income tax in my last year.
At the time, Trump denied such findings. “Fake news, completely fake news. Fake. Fake,” he said.
Trump ranted on his Truth Social platform before the commission decided to make the earnings public.
“All the so-called experts who think they know a lot about my highly successful private company actually know very little,” he began. “It’s a great company, lots of cash, some of the best assets anywhere in the world, and very little debt. It’s also strong in deductions and depreciation.
“These numbers will come soon, but they’re not all on my tax return, so they’re relatively small,” he continued. Yes, so I’m against what they say!”
Rep. Richard Neal, the Democratic chairman of the committee, said in remarks after last week’s vote that the decision was “neither punitive nor malicious.”
Last month, a judge denied Trump’s last-minute request to stop committee Democrats from obtaining financial documents. Neither six conservative jurists nor three liberal jurists dissented.
“Unfortunately, the act is complete,” Rep. Kevin Brady, the panel’s top Republican, told reporters at a post-vote news conference.
“Over our dissent and opposition, the Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee have unleashed a dangerous new political weapon that is upending decades of privacy protections for the average taxpayer,” Brady said at a news conference.
Wave and Means Commission staff were seen carrying a box full of documents into the commission room last Tuesday afternoon.
He claimed it had “nothing to do with the stated purpose of reviewing the IRS’ presidential audit process.”
Through his remarks, he emphasized that Trump’s “personal” return was at the heart of the matter.
Republican Rep. Kevin Hahn of Oklahoma, a Republican of another way and means, called the Democrats’ battle over Trump’s taxes a “witch hunt.”
Speaker Neal compared the layout of the committee room to what it looked like on Jan. 6, when the furniture was used to barricade doors and windows when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Post-voting remarks have begun.
But at a press conference, he argued that the move to release the former president’s tax returns was “neither punitive nor malicious.”
Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, top Republican on the committee, argued that the ‘average taxpayer’ would be harmed by Trump’s decision to exempt taxes
The commission released a 29-page report suggesting that the IRS was not adequately resourced or funded during the Trump administration.
Nevada Democrat Rep. Stephen Horsford said after Neal’s remarks: But it is clear that much work needs to be done to rebuild the IRS.
He said the IRS “has lost money to Republican cuts for over a decade.”
A subsequent report released last week by the commission suggests that Trump’s tax returns were largely overlooked by the IRS during his tenure.
IRS policy requires an annual audit of the personal tax returns of sitting presidents and vice presidents, according to a Democratic-led report.
“The former president’s personal income tax returns filed in 2018, 2019 and 2020 were not selected for review until he resigned, and only the 2016 tax return was subject to mandatory review. ‘ says the file on page 29.
Trump’s 2015 return wasn’t even audited until Democrats demanded it in 2019.
‘[T]The IRS sent a letter to the former president notifying him that his 2015 tax returns were selected for review on April 3, 2019. This is the date the chairman sent his first request to the IRS for the former president’s return information and related tax returns. ‘ said the report.
Under the Trump administration, “it was clear that a mandatory audit program was not a priority and the necessary resources were not provided to ensure compliance by the former president,” he said.
The committee meeting was open to the public last Tuesday, but quickly turned into a closed session lasting over three hours.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who held the political lead during Trump’s tenure, praised the committee’s work and called for reform of the IRS audit system for U.S. presidents.
“The Solemn Oversight Work of the Ways & Means Commission has shown that there is an urgent need for legislation to ensure that the public can rely on true accountability and transparency during audits of sitting presidents’ tax returns. “Americans deserve to know without question that no one is above the law,” the California Democrat said in a statement late Tuesday night.
“From day one, Chairman Richard Neal brought immense integrity to the Commission’s important oversight and legislative responsibilities.”
Trump defied years of precedent by refusing to release his tax returns while running for president during the 2016 election.
Since then, he’s kept it close to his best, but a 2020 New York Times report revealed nearly two decades worth of Trump’s tax papers. was not included.
The report said the former president avoided paying federal income taxes for 11 of the 18 years investigated.
The document, released after Tuesday’s House committee vote, will bring Trump’s finances more up-to-date, though it will end in 2020.
