The IRS vs. Trump

Republican nominee Donald Trump has dragged the Internal Revenue Service into politics by falsely claiming that an audit bars him from releasing his tax return before the presidential election. Should the IRS rule that Trump abused the tax code to reduce his obligations, the billionaire marketer would surely further politicize the agency by claiming to be the victim of a game rigged to benefit Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Still worse, should the audit extend past Election Day, a Trump victory would put the IRS in the untenable position of assessing taxes disputed by a President or President-elect. Here is a solution: Supported by President Obama, the IRS should declare Trump’s tax audit settled. The benefit of preventing him from further politicizing the tax agency would far outweigh collecting however many millions of dollars he may have shorted the U.S.

Campaign chief Paul Manafort on Wednesday confirmed that Trump “will not be releasing” his returns before the election, again citing the audit as justification.

Every presidential candidate for the past 40 years has released his or her income taxes. Richard Nixon did so while under audit in 1973. Clinton’s are on record dating back to 1977.

Trump’s returns might well show that he is worth far less than he has boasted; that he has given next to nothing to charity; that he has finagled to reduce his tax payments to zero; that he has tapped American taxpayers to subsidize his lavish lifestyle, or something even worse.

Voters should shame him, hound him and harangue him — and the IRS should cut its losses by cutting him loose.