The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday released six years of former President Donald Trump and his wife Melania's joint tax returns. The documents contain details that were not previously public, such as loans he gave to his children, income from book royalties and Melania's modeling, and how much of his presidential salary was given to charity.
Trump fought for years to prevent his returns from being released to the public, but the Supreme Court in November declined to block the release to the Democratic-led committee. The House Ways and Means Committee began the fight to get his taxes in 2019, when Democrats took control of Congress.
The returns, which span from 2015 to 2020, were redacted to remove personal information. Given Trump's years in business — specifically the real estate industry — the returns are complex and require a close read. They all appear to show very large pass-through losses from over 100 business entities, according to forensic accountant Bruce Dubinsky.
Trump on Friday accused Democrats of having "unconstitutionally released" his returns.
He is the first president since Richard Nixon to not release his returns. Recent presidents released their tax returns voluntarily.
The House Ways and Means Committee released a report last week with their main findings, including that the IRS did not audit Trump for the first two years he was in office, until the committee asked about it. Ahead of Republicans taking control of Congress in January, the Democrat-led House of Representatives passed a bill to bolster the IRS mandatory presidential audit program last week.
