House Committee Takes Step Toward Potential Release of Trump’s Tax Data

WASHINGTON — A House The committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday whether or not to make six years public. of Former President Donald J. Trump’s Tax records in the context of what could be considered a significant act of Transparency in the final days of Democratic control of The House.

Ways and Means Committee It was notified on Friday that it will meet behind closed doors on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. to vote whether or not to release data from Mr. Trump’s Tax returns for 2015 through 2020. of The filings can be shared. The information was obtained from the Treasury Department by the panel last month.

This vote would mark the end of the Republican Party’s dominance. of The battle for Mr. Trump’s He decided to go against modern precedent by refusing to reveal his financial details as a presidential candidate, and as a sitting President.

For the moment, however, lawmakers are still limited in terms of what they can speak on the subject. Representative Richard E. Neal, Democrat of Massachusetts: Who is the Chairman? of The Ways and Means Committee Mr. Trump’s The Treasury Department has released tax returns that stated it concerns “documents protected under Internal Revenue Code Section 6103.”

It was the law that enabled Mr. Neal obtain the returns.

“Nearly four years ago, the Ways and Means Committee set out to fulfill our legislative and oversight responsibilities, and evaluate the Internal Revenue Service’s mandatory audit program,” In a separate statement, Mr. Neal stated. “As affirmed by the Supreme Court, the law was on our side, and on Tuesday, I will update the members of the committee.”

A request for comment was not answered by Mr. Trump’s lawyers immediately.

The release is still not known. of The records could reveal some major discoveries. New York’s Prosecutors had previously obtained tax information related to Trump, which was also available for his family. of Multiple investigations. Trump Organization was convicted of This month, a tax fraud scheme was discovered. Trump was sued by Mr. Trump’s attorney general in New York. of He accused his children of being a liar. of Inflating assets fraudulently to deceive lenders or insurers is a way of lying to them.

The New York Times also interviewed Mr. Trump’s He also received tax-return data for 2020, covering more than twenty years. In 11 he did not pay federal income tax. of The Times reviewed 18 years of his tax bills. The Times also examined his tax bill for questionable methods, such as a $72.9 million refund. of The subject was 2020 of Audit by the I.R.S. audit.

However, there are still more current data in the returns that the committee obtained.

Section 6103 is the section that gives us the Ways and Means. Committee You have the right to ask that the I.R.S. turn over any taxpayer’s returns. The law generally requires that the committee keep this information secret. However, if the panel votes in favor of reporting the entire information, it will be reported to the whole. HouseIt would also be legal to publish it.

Mr. Neal was the first to seek Mr. Trump’s Tax returns 2019 after Democrats took control House In the 2018 midterm elections, began to try and perform oversight of Trump’s administration.

Ways and Means Committee The records were needed to determine if an I.R.S. was being assessed. Presidents are audited by the program. Mr. Trump’s The lawyers claimed it was a pretext to a politically motivated fishing expedition and accused the panel of Without any legal purpose.

Trump pledged to block all Democratic subpoenas. His administration directed the I.R.S. to take part. of The Treasury Department refused to honor the request. After the committee had filed suit to enforce its request Mr. Trump’s It was a matter that lawyers had promised to combat “tooth and nail.”

Trump appointee Judge Trevor N. McFadden was appointed to the case of Federal District Court for the District of Columbia did not issue any rulings for many years. This allowed Mr. Trump time to finish the race before 2020.

Following the election of the Biden Administration, the Justice Department declared that Congress had the legal right to obtain the requested information. The end of 2021. Judge McFadden ruled and agreed that law was on his side. of The Ways and Means Committee But he warned that it was a poor idea to make Mr. Trump’s returns public.

An appeals court upheld Judge McFadden’s decision. The Supreme Court rejected Mr. Trump’s Request that the Treasury Department temporarily stop the transfer of the material to him while he appeals against it.

While lawmakers are unlikely to publish taxpayer data in confidence, there are precedents. A 1974 tax committee published a bipartisan staff report describing and analyzing President Richard M. Nixon’s tax returns Based on the data it requested in an earlier version of Section 6103

Und in einem party-line Wahl in 2014 House Republicans led by their chairman of Ways and CommitteeDave Camp Republican of Michigan has released tax information confidentially urging the Justice Department They wanted to verify their claims that an I.R.S. In deciding which organisations to investigate, an official discriminated against conservative organizations.

I.R.S. The I.R.S. had identified conservative names, such as tea party, when deciding which charities to investigate to determine if they could be tax-deductible. But an inspector general’s investigation later determined that it had also used names associated with liberal views, like progressive and occupy.