House Committee Receives 6 Years Of Trump Tax Returns

Topline

The House Ways and Means Committee has received six years of former President Donald Trump’s federal income tax returns, one week after the Supreme Court denied Trump’s request to block his tax returns from being turned over, thwarting the former president’s three-year effort to keep his tax returns confidential.

Key Facts

The IRS provided the documents Wednesday afternoon to the House Ways and Means Committee, which has been requesting returns from Trump and his business entities, representing tax returns during Trump’s time as president and a presidential candidate.

The Ways and Means Committee has been asking for the returns since 2019 as part of an inquiry into how the IRS conducts presidential tax return audits.

Trump, however, had argued that turning over the documents would “undermine the separation of powers,” alleging House members’ intent is to make his tax returns public rather than use them for a legislative purpose.

Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) said on Wednesday that Democrats will need to meet as a caucus to receive legal advice and discuss further actions.

Key Background

Trump, in October, asked the Supreme Court to block House members from obtaining his taxes from the Treasury Department, after the Washington D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the documents must be turned over. The ruling stemmed from a House committee request for Trump’s personal and business tax returns in 2019 which the Trump Administration refused to do. The committee then subpoenaed former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig for the returns. Trump—the first U.S. president in modern history not to release his tax returns—sued the House committee last year after the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden directed the Treasury Department and the IRS to turn over Trump’s returns.

Further Reading

House Committee Can Get Trump’s Tax Returns, Appeals Court Rules (Forbes)

Treasury Must Turn Over Trump’s Tax Records To Congress, Supreme Court Rules (Forbes)