Staff Reports
Following the release of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns earlier this week, the House of Representatives approved a bill that requires annual reviews of the president's tax returns.
The US House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at providing transparency regarding the presidential tax filings. The legislation came after it was revealed that the IRS did not carry out an audit of President Donald Trump's returns for two years.
Although the IRS has a policy requiring it to audit the tax returns of sitting presidents, it did not perform the procedure for President Donald Trump's returns in 2017 and 2018. The agency's actions were revealed in a report released by the House Ways & Means Committee.
Although Trump had filed his tax returns during his two years in office, the IRS did not carry out an examination of them until 2019. This was because the agency's chairman, Richard Neal, asked the commissioner of the IRS to provide the documents.
The bill that was passed by the House of Representatives required the IRS to carry out an audit of the president's various entities. It also required the release of the president's tax records within three months.
In his floor speech, Richard Neal, the chairman of the House Committee on Ways & Means, said that the IRS had failed to follow its own policies when it comes to carrying out audits. He noted that the agency's failure to act resulted in the passage of legislation that would eliminate the discretion of the IRS in carrying out these examinations.
The Ways & Means Committee released a report on its investigation into the IRS's failure to carry out an effective review of the president’s tax returns. Despite the committee's approval, the documents related to the president's returns were not released.
The members of the House Committee were able to obtain Trump's tax returns for the period 2015 to 2020. According to the data released by the IRS, Trump reported a loss of over $1 billion and paid no income taxes.
"In three of six years reviewed, Trump paid $750 or less in federal income taxes, that includes 2020, where he paid zero."— @charlie_savage on former President Donald Trump's tax returns https://t.co/3aGk2hpKGz
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) December 21, 2022
Many House Republicans criticized the Ways & Means Committee's decision to release the president's tax returns. They warned that it could cause trouble for Democrats in the future.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on WASHINGTON EXAMINER.
