The committee had previously submitted two reports with extensive information from the documents and decided with a majority of Democrats to make at least parts of the original tax documents from 2015 to 2020 available to the public. The release marks the conclusion of a nearly four-year legal battle House Democrats have waged against the former president.
It’s a massive amount of data. The committee’s report includes an analysis of numbers from each of the six Trump tax returns by the impartial Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT). Among other things, the JCT came to the conclusion that Trump’s tax payments fluctuated greatly: In 2018 and 2019 he paid a total of $1.1 million (about one million euros) in federal income taxes, in 2017 only $750 and in 2020 none at all.
Large losses claimed
This would have made possible the depreciation and credits, among other things because of high losses. The New York Times (“NYT”) had already reported in the middle of the election campaign before the 2020 presidential election that Trump only paid $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017. Trump denied it at the time, claiming he paid “millions.”
The finance committee recently complained: “Numerous reports have revealed that the former president has pursued aggressive tax strategies and decades-long tax avoidance strategies through the complex regulations of his personal and business finances.”
The JCT report found that Trump had losses of $105 million in 2015, $73 million in 2016, $45 million in 2017, and $23 million in 2018 on his tax return . The JCT report also raises questions about the accuracy of some large charity write-offs that Trump has claimed on several of his tax returns. Depreciation can reduce the amount of income tax owed.
No proper verification?
One of the panel’s two reports released last week also said the IRS had failed to properly screen Trump. In the four years of his tenure, only one mandatory audit had been initiated and not a single one had been completed. During his presidency, Trump had always emphasized that his tax documents were being checked – which is why he could not publish them.
There was initially no big news compared to the previously published content. However, the documents can now be studied in detail by tax experts and journalists.
While the filings could not reveal Trump’s net worth or the full extent of his financial dealings, they would also provide insight into the profits and losses of his companies, whether and where he has foreign bank accounts, or whether he owes taxes to foreign governments paid, according to the broadcaster CNN.
Critics suspected conflicts of interest
The committee, which will be controlled by the Democrats until the end of the year, had previously announced the publication, but pointed out that parts of the documents would first have to be blacked out because they are confidential. Among other things, the Democrats wanted to check whether the documents contained any indications of conflicts of interest and whether Trump had used questionable methods to save taxes.
Trump’s tax records were reportedly turned over to the panel in early December. The ex-president did not publish his tax records himself during the election campaign, contrary to standard US practice. Critics therefore suspect that he has something to hide.
“Dangerous New Political Weapon”
Trump and his attorneys have tried several times to keep his tax returns secret, arguing that Congress had never used its legislative power to request a president’s tax returns. “The Democrats should never have done this, the Supreme Court should never have approved it, and it’s going to lead to terrible things for so many people,” Trump said in a statement after the release.
“The ‘Trump’ tax returns show once again how proud I am of my success and how I have been able to use depreciation and various other tax deductions as an incentive to create thousands of jobs and great structures and companies.” Shortly after the release of his tax returns A Trump fundraising committee sent out a fundraising email that read, “Urgent: Democrats have unconstitutionally released President Trump’s tax returns.”
Other Republicans also described the procedure for tax returns as politically motivated. A release would represent “a dangerous new political weapon that goes well beyond the former president and overturns decades of privacy protections for the average American that have been in place since Watergate reform,” CNN quoted Texas Rep. and top conservative on the committee Kevin Brady as saying .
Last minute success
The Finance Committee in the House of Representatives had been trying for years to get hold of the tax documents. During Trump’s administration, the Treasury Department initially stood in the way. Only in the administration of his Democratic successor Joe Biden last year did the Treasury Department finally instruct the IRS to hand over the documents to the committee. Trump defended himself in court and tried various instances until his only option was to go to the Supreme Court, where he ultimately failed in November.
This was a last-minute success for the committee: Since the Republicans won the majority in the House of Representatives in the congressional elections and will be in charge there from next week, the Democratic-led body had little time to do anything about the matter.
Several legal problems
It’s the latest blow for 76-year-old Trump, who has twice been impeached by the Democrat-led House of Representatives and is now facing legal troubles ahead of his re-election campaign for president in 2024.
In December, the committee of inquiry into the storming of the US Capitol called on the judiciary to criminal proceedings against ex-President Trump on four counts. At a public hearing, lawmakers accused Trump of, among other things, instigating or aiding insurrection, obstructing an official process and conspiring to defraud the United States. The Ministry of Justice must now decide on criminal proceedings and possible charges.
