House passes bill to audit taxes of presidents, but it’ll most likely die

A bill requiring mandatory annual presidential tax audits passed the House of Representatives but is likely to die as Congress races to finish its business for the year.

The Democratic-held House passed the measure in a mostly party line vote after a report revealed that the Internal Revenue Service failed to audit former President Trump’s tax returns in violation of its own policies.

It’s unlikely to even get a hearing in the Senate, as lawmakers have already left Washington D.C. for the end-of-year holiday.

“Americans [deserve] the assurance they deserve that our tax code applies evenly and fairly to all of us, no matter how powerful,” said Democratic Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee that led the effort.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) countered the bill could open the door to intrusive violations of individual privacy, even though it applies only to presidents.

Republicans take control of the House in the next Congress and say they won’t let the bill be revived on their watch.

The move capped a years-long battle by lawmakers to gain access to Trump’s tax returns, a move that the former president doggedly fought in court and with a string of lies about them.

The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to release redacted versions of six years of Trump’s federal tax returns before the end of the year.

Trump paid no income tax in his last year in the White House and just $750 in 2017.

Its investigation revealed this week that the IRS had brazenly failed to audit Trump on a timely basis during his presidency, actions that would be made illegal under the proposed new law.

The findings refuted Trump’s insistence he could not publicly release his tax returns — as other presidents and candidates routinely did — because they were under audit.

Trump, who claims to be fabulously wealthy, has long avoided scrutiny of his finances before, during and after his single term in office.

His company was convicted this month of a tax fraud scheme in which it falsely inflated or reduced the value of assets and paid top executives off the books.