After years of legal battles the House Committee released Trump Tax Returns

The House Ways and Means Committee published the tax Former President’s Returns Donald Trump After a long legal battle, the documents were sealed on Friday.

The powerful committee voted along party lines last week to release the tax returns after the Supreme Court rejected the former commander-in-chief’s request to block the IRS from giving the records to lawmakers. The documentsThe following files were redacted to exclude information such Social Security numbers. They cover the years 2015 through 2020. They include individual and corporate filings.

The new records contain approximately 6,000 pages that provide information about Trump’s tax habits. He often used deductions or business losses to lower his federal debt. The following information is available: report Last week, the Joint Committee on Taxation published the tax owed by Donald and Melania Donald Trump for six years. The couple paid $1.1million in 2018 and 2019 together, as well as $750 for 2017.

“A president is no ordinary taxpayer. They hold power and influence unlike any other American. And with great power comes even greater responsibility,” Richard Neal, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee (D-MA), stated in a press release. “Our work has always been to ensure our tax laws are administered fairly and without preference, because at times, even the power of a president can loom too large.”

Members of the House Ways and Means Committee previously argued that the IRS failed to adhere to the agency’s own guidelines by neglecting to audit Trump during his first two years in office and only started examining Trump’s 2015 income tax return on the same day in 2019 that the panel requested the information. “The former President’s individual income tax returns filed in 2018, 2019, and 2020 were not selected for examination until after he left office and only the 2016 tax return was subject to a mandatory examination,” the lawmakers’ report said.

Trump made a Friday statement disputing the release of the documents. “The Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never approved it, and it’s going to lead to horrible things for so many people,” He stated. “The ‘Trump’ tax returns once again show how proudly successful I have been and how I have been able to use depreciation and various other tax deductions as an incentive for creating thousands of jobs and magnificent structures and enterprises.”

Kevin Brady, a ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee (Republican from Texas), stated in an email statement that publicizing the documents was political. He also said that future legislators will be able to use the tax returns to punish private citizens without impunity.

“Americans now have confirmation that there was never a legislative purpose behind the public release of these confidential records and that the IRS was conducting audits prior to Democrats’ request,” He said so. “Despite these facts, Democrats have charged forward with an unprecedented decision to unleash a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond the former president, overturning decades of privacy protections for average Americans that have existed since Watergate.”

Trump announced last month a third bid for White House. He also claimed that the publication of his tax records was political motivated. Though it is not required under law, presidential candidates usually make public their tax returns.

Neal introduced The Presidential Tax Filing and Audit Transparency Act would require an annual audit of the commander-in chief. The House of Representatives approved the bill last Wednesday, with Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, and three other Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues to support the legislation.