Trump tax returns: US House committee gets access after long court fight
A US House of Representatives committee has obtained access to Donald Trump’s tax returns, following a yearslong court fight with the former president who has accused the Democraticled panel of being politically motivated.
“Treasury has complied with last week’s court decision,” a treasury department spokesperson said in an emailed statement late on Wednesday. The spokesperson declined to say whether the committee had yet accessed the documents. The development was reported earlier by CNN.
The ways and means committee obtained the tax returns following a supreme court decision clearing their release. It has been seeking the returns spanning 2015 through 2020, which it says it needs to establish whether the Internal Revenue Service is properly auditing presidential returns and whether new legislation is needed.
The panel will have little time to do its work, with Republicans poised to take the House in January.
Trump, who on 15 November began his third consecutive run for the presidency, fought the committee to avoid releasing the tax returns.
He was the first president in four decades not to release his tax returns as he sought to keep secret the details of his wealth and the activities of his real estate company, the Trump Organization. It had long been customary, though not required, for major party candidates to release their returns.
Trump, who was president from 2017 to 2021, reported heavy losses over several years to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in income, according to reporting and trial testimony. That allowed him to pay very little in taxes.
A major question hanging over the committee’s work is what will happen to the returns when Republicans take control of the Houses. The committee first requested Trump’s returns in 2019.
Democrats on the Senate finance committee, the counterpart to the ways and means panel, were considering their options on any action relating to Trump’s tax returns, according to an aide who spoke on condition of ano
nymity. Democrats held their Senate majority in November’s midterm elections.