Activists to gather at Capitol to protest Trump’s tax stance
WASHINGTON — Democrats and liberal advocates plan to use the annual t ax filing deadline as a showcase to demand the release of President Donald Trump’s tax returns and to call for more electronic tax filing, as Republicans focus on a legislative overhaul.
Thousands of people are expected at the U.S. Capitol today, the traditional April 15 filing deadline, to protest Trump’s refusal to release his tax information. Similar events will be held across the country and in the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and New Zealand.
Liberal activists are the organizers, backed by more than 70 progressive groups such as MoveOn.org.
“We march to demand that the president release his returns, as he has repeatedly promised but failed to do. We march because it is in the best interest of the American people to know what financial entanglements and conflicts of interest our leaders have,” says the website for what’s known as Tax March.
For nearly 40 million taxpayers still working on tax returns, thi s year’s filing deadline is Tuesday because April 15 falls on a Saturday and Monday is a legal holiday, Emancipation Day, in the nation’s capital.
More than 100.9 million tax returns have been processed as of April 7, according to the IRS, and more than 80.2 million refunds totaling $228.9 billion have been issued.
S t a g i n g r a l l i e s t o p r o - mote tax cuts or other issues before Tax Day has long been a staple in the GOP playbook. But several senior House and Senate aides said there were no plans — with lawmakers in the middle of a t wo-week spring break — for part y leaders to stage high-profile national events that would tie Tax Day to the GOP’s ambitious agenda for slashing tax rates and streamlining the tax code.
Emily Schillinger, a Ways a n d M e a n s C o m m i t t e e spokeswoman, said Chairman Kevin Brady of Texas is “making the case for progrowth tax reform in his district” during the congressional recess and plans a teletown hall on tax issues on Monday. More GOP messaging will include release of another Tax Reform Tuesday video by panel members next week.
AshLee Strong, a spokeswoman for House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, said GOP leaders are stressing the need for a tax plan during the break.
Today’s marches will use large inflated white rooste r s wi t h go l d e n p o mpadour-shaped combs, custom-made for the Chinese lunar year of the rooster, as props to a make the case for the release of Trump’s tax returns. David Cay Johnston, a former New York Times re por t e r a nd t a x exp e r t who obtained and released pages from Trump’s 2005 tax returns, is scheduled to speak at an event in San Francisco.
Trump initially said during the 2016 campaign that he would release his tax returns, but reversed course and said
Solidarity march to demand that President Donald Trump release his taxes. Noon today. From Trump Plaza, at 525 S. Flagler Dr. in West Palm Beach, to Mar-a-Lago, off Southern Boulevard in Palm Beach.
For Our Future, South Florida Activism, Women’s March Florida, Rise Up! and Indivisible South Florida. he couldn’t because he was being audited.
He is the first president since Gerald Ford not to re l e a s e h i s t a x i n f o r mation. Now that he’s president, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will have all of their tax returns audited while they hold these offices because of an IRS rule that has been in place since Richard Nixon was in the White House.