- The House Committee could vote to release Trump’s tax returns or a summary or not to release them.
- Republicans have warned releasing them could jeopardize the privacy of every American’s taxes.
- Democrats have argued the tax returns could help guide lawmakers in writing tax legislation.
A key House panel is scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon to discuss releasing Donald Trump’s tax returns, a move Republicans warned could jeopardize the privacy of every American’s taxes but that Democrats argue could help guide tax law-making.
The House Ways and Means Committee, led by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., got the returns from the Treasury Department a few weeks ago after a years-long legal battle. He first asked the IRS in 2019 for copies of six years of Trump’s personal returns as well as those for his companies and a revocable trust.
Neal has had little to say publicly about the potential release of Trump’s taxes, but scheduled the meeting at 3 p.m. ET Tuesday, when members of the Democrat-led committee will decide what to do.
Will Trump’s taxes become public?:Here’s what to expect if a House panel votes to release them.
“Nearly four years ago, the Ways and Means Committee set out to fulfill our legislative and oversight responsibilities, and evaluate the Internal Revenue Service’s mandatory audit program,” Neal said in a written statement. “As affirmed by the Supreme Court, the law was on our side, and on Tuesday, I will update the members of the Committee.”
Here’s what’s happening now:
How can the House committee release Trump’s personal tax returns?
As a legal matter, attorneys cite federal law, which allows certain House and Senate committees to obtain the returns of any taxpayer, including the sitting president. The committee can then submit the information to the House or Senate for purposes of passing legislation.
In this case, committee members said they sought Trump’s records as part of an effort to write new laws regarding tax audits.
What’s in Donald Trump’s tax returns?
Charles Rettig, the California-based tax law expert Trump tapped as the nation’s IRS commissioner, offered predictions in a Forbes essay he wrote in 2016, two years before his nomination.
“Teams of sophisticated tax advisers were likely engaged throughout Trump’s career to assure the absence of any ‘bombshell’ within the returns. His returns might actually be somewhat unremarkable but for the fact they are the returns of Donald Trump,” wrote Rettig.
“For wealthy individuals, individual tax returns sometimes only provide a brief financial overview linked to numerous other conclusions and entities. To fully understand the financial status of Trump, one would likely need to see returns for multiple years, the work-papers for the individual returns and the returns for numerous related entities, something that is unlikely to happen.”
Maybe some small surprises?
Robert McKenzie, a tax law expert who’s of counsel to the Saul Ewing LLP law firm in Chicago, said tax returns sometimes contain surprising finds.
After former House Speaker Newt Gingrich released his returns in 2012, McKenzie and other lawyers told USA TODAY Gingrich used a popular tax strategy that enabled him to avoid paying Medicare tax on most of his 2010 income.
A spokesman for Gingrich, who was a presidential contender at the time, said the tax filing was handled properly and legally.
Trump prepares for tax revelations
Trump has repeatedly opposed any release of his tax information, calling the entire process political. In a recent Truth Social post, he claimed that the records will show his business has “lots of cash, some of the greatest assets anywhere in the World, and very little debt. Also, strong on deductions and depreciation.”
“You will be seeing these numbers soon, but not all from my tax returns, which show relatively little,” he said.
Trump also claimed, “You can’t learn much from tax returns, but it is illegal to release them if they are not yours!”
