Trump tax returns to be released by House panel

Democrat-run panel to release partially redacted tax filings from six years

A US House committee is expected to vote on Tuesday on whether to publicly disclose Donald Trump's tax records. Reuters

A US House of Representatives committee voted on Tuesday to release partially redacted tax filings from former president Donald Trump and said tax authorities had failed to properly scrutinise his returns while he was in office.

The Democrat-controlled House Ways and Means Committee voted to release a summary of Mr Trump's tax returns between 2015 and 2021, the years when he was running for president and serving in the White House, panel members said.

That could lead to more unwelcome scrutiny for the former president as he mounts another White House bid.

The announcement came just one day after Mr Trump was referred to the Justice Department for his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

The Supreme Court finally cleared the way for Congress to obtain Mr Trump's tax records last month. And with Republicans set to control Congress in the new year, Democrats have only a few days left to release the information.

“This rises above politics, and the Committee will now conduct the oversight that we’ve sought for the last three and a half years,” committee chairman Richard Neal said in a statement after the Supreme Court's decision.

Kevin Brady, the ranking Republican on the committee, said releasing Mr Trump's returns would unleash “a dangerous new political weapon” that can be used to target political enemies.

Mr Trump broke a decades-long tradition when, as a presidential candidate in 2016, he refused to disclose his tax returns.

The purpose of candidates and presidents releasing their tax returns is to show transparency in how much they have paid (if any), if they have taken advantage of any loopholes or if there is a conflict of interest with foreign businesses.

The records would also have shown how successful he was at business, which the former The Apprentice star used to great effect in 2016.

The New York Times published two separate stories in 2018 and 2020, which showed that he paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. He paid an additional $750 while in his first year in office.

He paid no income taxes in 10 of the previous 15 years because he reported losing more money than he had made, The New York Times reported.

The Trump Organisation was found guilty this month in New York of conducting a 15-year scheme to defraud tax authorities. Mr Trump is not personally liable.

Watch: Trump referred for criminal charges by US House panel

Agencies contributed to this report