Redacted Trump tax filings to be released
Panel says IRS did not follow own rules when auditing him
AUS House of Representatives committee voted on Tuesday to release partially redacted tax filings from former President Donald Trump and said tax authorities had failed to properly scrutinise his returns while he was in office.
The House Ways and Means Committee voted to release a summary of Trump’s tax returns between 2015 and 2021, the years when he was running for president and serving in the White House, panel members said.
That could lead to more unwelcome scrutiny for the former president as he mounts another White House bid.
But the committee also said the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) did not follow its own rules when it failed to audit Trump’s tax returns during three of his four years in office. Members said Congress should pass a law to strengthen the presidential audit programme.
“What people will likely be surprised about is the extent to which the IRS was not conforming to their own rules,” Democratic Representative Dan Kildee told reporters.
The IRS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Redacted summary
Committee chairman Richard Neal, a Democrat, said a redacted summary of Trump’s tax returns would be released within days.
Democrats have little time to act, as Republicans are due to take control of the House in January.
It was not clear whether the material would shed light on potential conflicts between Trump’s real-estate holdings and his actions as president, or how much tax he paid on the millions of dollars his businesses earned while he was president.