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WASHINGTON, Dec. 30 (AP) — Congressional Democrats on Friday released six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, the culmination of a years-long effort to understand the finances of a one-time business mogul. A business tycoon broke decades of political norms when he refused to release information voluntarily in his quest for the White House.
returns, which included the redaction of some personally sensitive information, such as Social Security and bank account numbers, from 2015 to 2020. Their release follows a partisan vote by the House Ways and Means Committee last week to make the returns public. Committee Democrats argued that transparency and the rule of law were at stake, while Republicans countered that the release would set a dangerous precedent in losing privacy protections.
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Trump refused to release his returns while campaigning for president and waged legal battles to keep them secret while he was in the White House. But the Supreme Court ruled last month that he must turn them over to the Ways and Means Committee, which writes the taxes.
The news comes just days before Trump’s fellow Republicans wrested control of the House of Representatives from Democrats, raising the possibility of fresh revelations about Trump’s finances, which he has seen since his stint as an up-and-coming Manhattan real estate developer. These finances have been shrouded in mystery and intrigue throughout the ’80s. Now that Trump has launched a campaign for the White House in 2024, those returns may become even more important.
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They may offer the clearest look yet at his finances during his tenure.
Trump, known for building skyscrapers and hosting reality TV shows before he entered the White House, did provide some limited details about his assets and income on mandatory disclosure forms. He advertised his wealth by providing annual financial statements to banks to obtain loans and to financial magazines to certify his place on the world’s billionaires list.
Trump’s longtime accounting firm has since denied the claims, and New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit alleging that Trump and his Trump Organization inflated the value of their assets in a years-long lawsuit. part of the fraud. Trump and his company have denied wrongdoing.
This isn’t the first time Trump’s tax returns have come under scrutiny.
In October 2018, The New York Times published a series of Pulitzer Prize-winning pieces based on leaked tax records showing that Trump received at least $413 million in modern times from real estate held by his father, Much of that money came from what The Times called “tax evasion” in the 1990s.
The second series for 2020 shows that Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2017 and 2018, and paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the past 15 years, as he typically lost more than he made .
In a report last week, the Ways and Means Committee said the Trump administration may be ignoring post-Watergate demands for an audit of the president’s tax returns.
The IRS did not start auditing Trump’s 2016 tax returns until April 3, 2019 — more than two years after he became president — when the committee chairman, Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), asked the agency to Provide information related to tax returns.
By contrast, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said President Joe Biden was audited for the 2020 and 2021 tax years. A spokesman for former President Barack Obama said Obama was audited in each of his eight years in office.
A report by Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation raised multiple red flags about Trump’s tax filings, including his carryforward losses, deductions related to conservation and charitable contributions, and the possibility that loans to his children may be taxable gift.
In response, the House of Representatives passed a bill requiring an audit of any president’s income tax returns. Republicans strongly oppose the legislation, fearing that laws requiring audits would invade taxpayer privacy and could lead to audits being weaponized for political gain.
The measure, which was approved largely along party lines, is unlikely to become law anytime soon as a new Republican-led House of Representatives is sworn in in January. Instead, it is seen as a starting point for future efforts to increase oversight of the presidency.
Republicans argue that Democrats will regret the move once Republicans take power next week, warning that the committee’s new Republican chair will come under pressure to seek and release the tax returns of other high-profile figures.
Every presidential and major party candidate since Richard Nixon has voluntarily released at least a summary of their tax information to the public. Bucking the trend both as a candidate and as president, Trump has repeatedly claimed that his taxes are “under audit” and cannot be released.
Attempts by Trump’s lawyers to keep his tax returns private to House committees have been repeatedly rebuffed. In August, a three-judge federal appeals court panel upheld a lower court ruling granting the committee access.
Trump’s lawyers also tried unsuccessfully to prevent the Manhattan District Attorney’s office from obtaining Trump’s tax records as part of an investigation into his business practices, losing twice in the Supreme Court.
Donald Bender, Trump’s longtime accountant, testified at the Trump Organization’s recent Manhattan criminal trial that Trump had reported losses on his tax returns every year for a decade, including nearly $700 million in 2009 and 2010. of $200 million.
Bender, a partner at Mazars USA LLP who spent years preparing Trump’s personal tax returns, said Trump’s reported losses from 2009 to 2018 were included in many of the businesses he owned through the Trump Organization. Some of the companies reported net operating losses.
Earlier this month, the Trump Organization was convicted on tax fraud charges of helping some executives evade taxes on corporate benefits such as condos and luxury cars. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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