Congress Decided: Trump's Tax Returns Will Be Publicly Available

(Patria) - A committee of the US Congress has voted to make Donald Trump's tax returns publicly available for six years. This move ends an almost four-year legal
battle by Democrats to obtain the documents, which was finally decided by the US Supreme Court last month, BBC reports.

US presidents are not legally obligated to release their tax returns, but for decades they have done so voluntarily. The former president fought fiercely to protect the confidentiality of his
tax returns. The committee voted on Tuesday evening 24 to 16 in favor of releasing the
documents, with all Democrats voting yes and all Republicans voting no.

One committee member, Democratic Representative Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, said afterward, "This is one of the most important votes I will ever cast as a member of Congress, and I stand by it
100%." Kevin Brady, a Republican, believes otherwise. Democrats have just "created a dangerous new political weapon," he said. "The congressional enemies list is back," said the congressman from Texas. "Every American taxpayer who might find themselves on the wrong side of the
majority in Congress is now at risk."

It is unknown when the public will see the financial documents dating from 2015 to
2020, when Trump ran for president and was in the White House. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas, told CNN that the release of the data could take "a few days" to redact personal information, such as social security numbers.

The release could offer a firsthand insight into Trump's finances, including his
assets, sources of income, charitable contributions, and liabilities, as well as the possibility of loans from foreign
entities.

In 2016, Trump became the first presidential candidate of one of the two major parties since Richard Nixon in 1972 to refuse to publicly release his tax returns while running for president. He said at the time that he would do so after the IRS audit was completed. However, on Tuesday, Democrats in Congress said that Trump was not actually under audit in 2016 and that the IRS did not begin its official audit until 2019.

In 2020, The New York Times obtained copies of Trump's tax returns for 18 years. They reported that the president paid no federal taxes in 10 of those 18 years and paid only $750 for each of his first two years in the White House. It was also stated that the then-president was in dispute with the IRS over a tax refund of $72.9 million he was seeking, while owing more than $400 million by 2024.

Trump's lawyer denied the accuracy of the report. The official copies of the former president's tax returns, which are now expected to be released before Republicans take control of Congress on January 3, should resolve all doubts. The vote comes a day after a congressional committee, led by Democrats, asked the US Department of Justice to prosecute the former president for sedition and other criminal charges related to the January 6 riots by his supporters at the Capitol in Washington.