Former President Trump’s tax returns released

Parts of former US President Trump’s tax returns will be made public. A committee of the House of Representatives approved it. This is for returns from 2015 to 2020.

The vote marks the provisional end of a long legal battle. Trump has been trying for years to block the publication of his tax returns, which is customary for presidents of the United States.

Last month judge The Supreme Court ordered the Treasury Department to submit Trump’s tax returns to the House of Representatives committee. The Democratic-led committee wanted to know, among other things, whether there had been any conflicts of interest during Trump’s presidency and what his business empire looked like.

The committee has now determined that the statements must also be made available to the general public. It’s still unclear when that will happen, possibly in the next few days.

The commission was in a rush to vote because starting in January, Republicans in the House of Representatives will have a majority and that will affect the commission’s mandate. Now, all 24 members of the Democratic committee have voted to release the statements, with all Republican members opposing it.

Trump called the disclosure of his tax returns “unprecedented” last month. It sets a “terrible precedent for future presidents”, he said.

Trump’s tax returns have been a hot topic in recent years. He was the first president in decades to voluntarily refuse to disclose his finances because he did not want details of his assets and business activities exposed.

In 2020 revealed the New York Times that Trump paid very little income tax during part of his presidency and that for many other years he paid no tax. A year earlier, the House of Representatives committee had already begun trying to access Trump’s tax returns.

In addition to this case, there is also a civil case regarding possible tax evasion against the former president and some of his relatives. They would have exaggerated the value of their assets between 2011 and 2021 in order to obtain tax advantages.

Trump’s company is also under a magnifying glass. Earlier this month, a jury found the Trump Organization guilty of tax evasion by helping executives evade taxes. Trump himself was not on trial in this criminal investigation.