US House committee votes to release Donald Trump’s tax returns | US News

A U.S. House of Representatives committee has voted to release partially redacted tax documents from Donald Trump.

The former U.S. president broke with decades of precedent when he refused to release his tax returns to the public as a presidential candidate in 2016.

House Ways and Means Committee Votes to Release Summary Mr Trump’s Tax returns from 2015 to 2021 — the years he ran for president and served in the White House.

Some sensitive personal information will be redacted, and the tax returns themselves may not be released for a few more days.

The committee’s report raised several red flags about some aspects of Trump’s tax returns, including loans to his children that could be taxable gifts and deductions related to conservation and charitable contributions.

In 2016, Mr Trump boasted during a presidential debate that he was “smart” because he paid no federal taxes.

He later claimed he wouldn’t personally benefit from the 2017 tax cuts he signed into law that benefited people of great value — asking Americans to just take his word for it.

The committee also found that a required IRS audit of Mr. Trump was delayed, with reports suggesting the Trump administration may have ignored an IRS request dating back to 1977 that Demand an audit of the president’s tax returns.

The IRS did not begin auditing Mr. Trump’s 2015 tax returns until April 3, 2019 — two years into his presidency.

It did not begin auditing his 2016 tax returns until September 2019. His 2017, 2018, and 2019 filing audits were lagging, and the audit of his 2020 filing never even started.

A separate report from the Joint Tax Commission on Trump’s reported income and taxes owed suggests that he pays a relatively small share of his income to the federal government.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump announces he will run again for President of the United States in the 2024 U.S. presidential election during an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 15, 2022, He points to the crowd.REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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Donald Trump announces he will run for US presidency again in 2024

break precedent

While U.S. presidential candidates are not legally required to release their tax returns, previous candidates from both parties have done so voluntarily for decades.

Mr. Trump’s tax returns could have been a useful barometer of his business success — a key element of the political persona he honed on his “Apprentice” TV show.

Jan. 6 Commission recommends criminal charges

It was released after a committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol proposed criminal charges against the former president.

These include conspiracy to defraud the United States; obstruction of official process (to prove Joe Biden’s election victory); conspiracy to make false statements, incitement, and assistance in rebellion.

However, the recommendation is largely symbolic and the Justice Department will be responsible for deciding whether to indict Mr Trump.

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