A US congressional committee voted on Tuesday to release ex-President Donald Trump’s six-year-old tax returns (76). The House Tax Policy Committee voted 24 to 16 to release Trump’s 2015-2020 tax returns. This ends a years-long dispute with the former head of state over the release of the documents.
Democratic MP Lloyd Doggett (76) told American broadcaster CNN that a summary report from the committee with the tax returns would be sent to the House of Representatives. Until then, it may take a few days.
Trump was the first president since Richard Nixon (1969 to 1974) to refuse to release his tax returns. This led to speculation that the very wealthy real estate entrepreneur had something to hide.
Trump speaks of political motives
In November, the US Supreme Court cleared the way for the release of Trump’s tax returns after a year-long legal battle. The Tax and Customs Administration subsequently submitted the documents for the years 2015 to 2020 to the Tax Policy Committee (in English: Ways and Means Committee).
Actually, the tax returns are confidential. The committee, controlled by President Joe Biden’s Democrats, had argued it needed the documents to understand how well tax authorities could control presidential finances. Trump, on the other hand, accuses MPs of pursuing purely political goals.
The vote for the publication of the documents is one of the last official acts of the committee in this composition. The new parliamentary year starts on 3 January. In the future Congress, Republicans will have a majority in the House of Representatives – and thus also control the committee responsible for tax policy. (AFP/kes)