Our view: It’s April 15. Do you know where Trump’s taxes are?
There are many theories for why Donald Trump broke with precedent and refused to disclose any of his taxes during the 2016 presidential campaign.
One is that the returns could show ties to oligarchs, mobsters or other unsavory figures whom he turned to for cash after most banks cut him off. Another is that they could show that he is not as rich as he claims to be. Still another is that he has been profiting off his presidency.
Perhaps the most likely explanation is that he just doesn’t pay much in the way of taxes.
Closely held companies, such as the Trump Organization, are adept at shielding their owners from taxes. This is particularly true in real estate development, where companies have tax loopholes not available to other industries, on a scale much larger than what is available to ordinary Americans.
The possibility that the president could be paying a lower rate of taxes on considerably more wealth and income would be matter of considerable concern, particularly today, the due date for taxes. The same would be true if Trump is profiting off his office or shaping policies based on personal gain.
Which is why the president should have released his taxes long ago, and why House Democrats have legitimate cause to demand them now.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has requested six years of returns, relying on a tax law passed in 1924. Trump’s chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, curtly responded that Democrats would “never” see them. Trump’s personal lawyer, William Consovoy, cited a nonexistent limitation that Congress needed a legitimate legislative reason before it could obtain them.
The law is unequivocal: “The (Treasury secretary) shall furnish such committee with any return or return information specified in such a request.” Protest in New York City on April 15, 2017.
It makes no mention of any rationale. In any event, lawmakers have multiple ones, including the need to craft tax laws that are as fair and equitable as possible and the imperative to engage in oversight of the executive branch. Neal focused on the latter in his letter to Treasury, citing a desire to ensure that the IRS is “enforcing the laws in a fair and impartial manner.”
This does not mean that the Ways and Means Committee can simply post the returns once it obtains them. The 1924 law also makes clear that the returns are to be considered in closed session. (What could be released in summary form or cited in legislation for further oversight inquiries is less clear.)
Trump asserts that he’d love to release his returns but can’t because he’s under audit. That’s bogus. So is the argument made by some Trump defenders that providing the documents would set a bad precedent.
If a committee in the future started demanding the tax records of political adversaries or wealthy individuals, it would not pass the smell test for Congress doing its job as intended. A president is a special case. And a president who refuses to show the public what it has a right to know is an even more special case.