Should lawmakers show tax returns?

SEATTLE — President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to release his tax returns is helping renew a debate on whether the practice should be expected of elected federal officeholders ahead of this year’s midterms.

Although there’s no constitutional requirement for candidates or elected officials to make their returns public, Trump has broken with more than four decades of tradition set by previous presidents. In Congress, almost half of lawmakers have called on Trump to disclose the documents, but just 1 of every 10 have released their own, according to data compiled by Roll Call last year.

In an election year where the balance of power in the House hinges on two dozen so-called toss-up districts, some candidates are capitalizing on the issue to claim the high ground in transparency.

Most of those districts are held by Republicans trying to distance themselves from Trump, but the strategy may pressure more legislators from both parties and candidates vying for their seats to disclose tax documents, according to

Lee Drutman, senior fellow at New America, a nonpartisan research house.

“For Democrats, it’s a way of indirectly invoking the Trump issue without having to directly campaign against Trump in competitive districts,” Drutman said.

Last year, the Republicancontrolled House and Senate passed the biggest changes to U.S. tax laws in three decades over criticism from Democrats that they disproportionately benefit corporations and the wealthy. In addition to basic income and tax and charity payments, lawmakers’ returns would reveal capital market investments that could be affected by those changes.

Federal law requires candidates to file financial disclosure forms that record wide ranges, rather than specific values, of income and assets and don’t show whether taxes were paid. At issue are people’s right to privacy and the potential usefulness of information from tax returns, said Abigail Blanco of the University of Tampa.

“If someone’s business dealings indicate they’re more inclined to engage in cronyism, that’s important for people to know,” she said. “But if someone is making a half a million dollars from a legitimate business, then having people digging into their tax returns isn’t very productive or indicative of whether or not they’re qualified to do their job on a national level.”