Taxation

House Committee Votes to Release Trump Tax Records

DEC 21 2022·Updated FEB 6 2024

Story

Image credit: npr

The Facts

On Tuesday, the US House Ways and Means Committee voted 24-16 to release former Pres. Trump’s tax returns from 2015-2020 to the public.
BBC News
Previously, Trump broke with presidential tradition and refused to voluntarily share his returns during his presidential campaigns. Democrats had sought access to Trump’s returns since 2019; in November, they obtained them through a Supreme Court ruling.
Independent
Democrats had used an inquiry over IRS policy regarding the auditing of a sitting president as a way to obtain Trump’s returns. It was revealed that only one audit was started during Trump’s term and it wasn’t completed.
NPR
The committee voted along party lines. Republican committee leader Kevin Brady (R-Texas) asked Democratic members to reconsider because he said if the returns were released it would be a "stain" on the committee and would unleash a new partisan weapon.
NPR
The committee intends to use the records to measure the effectiveness of, and recommend reforms to, the IRS presidential audit program.
Forbes
Trump was the first president to refuse to make his tax returns public since the Joint Committee on Taxation asked for multiple years of then-Pres. Richard Nixon's tax returns during 1973 and 1974.
NBC

Sources Split

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The Spin

Democratic narrative

Things are going badly for Trump. The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots recommended criminal charges against him, his family business was convicted of tax fraud, and now the public might learn more about his personal finances through these returns. This news could be a significant blow to Trump as he begins his 2024 run for president.

Vanity Fair

Pro-Trump narrative

It’s no one’s business what Trump pays in taxes or what income he reports, but the Democrats in the House shamefully won’t relent in their baseless attacks on the former president. They tried to disguise this sham as an investigation of the audit system, but it’s another way for them to punish their political opponents.

The Gateway Pundit