Trump's tax returns released after US Congress battle

Democrats in the US Congress on Friday released six years' worth of former President Donald Trump's tax returns, following a yearslong effort to learn about the business mogul's finances.

The House Ways and Means Committee voted last week to make the returns for 2015 to 2020 public, weeks after Trump announced a third campaign for the White House.

What do the returns show?

The information released Friday was not expected to yield sensational new revelations that weren't revealed in a summary last week.

But Democrats hope they will add detail on Trump's businesses and particularly any foreign concerns that might present conflicts of interest.

The documents do show, however, that Trump wasn't being regularly audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Despite reporting millions in earnings, the former US president paid little in tax by claiming large business losses. 

He did pay $1.1 million (€1.03 million) in federal taxes in 2018 and 2019, the middle two years of his presidency, after making around $30 million selling assets. 

But that dwarfed his $750 bill in 2017 — and he paid nothing at all as his losses mounted in 2020.

The report also showed that Trump had carried forward $105 million in net operating losses on his 2015 return, $73 million in 2016, $45 million in 2017 and $23 million in 2018 to reduce his tax liability.

The documents span nearly 6,000 pages, including more than 2,700 pages of individual returns from Trump and his wife, Melania, and more than 3,000 pages in returns for Trump's business entities.

The returns include redactions of some personal sensitive information such as Social Security and bank account numbers.

Trump 'no ordinary taxpayer'

“We are only here today because four years ago, our request to learn more about the program under 6103 was denied," Ways and Means Committee chair Richard Neal wrote in a press statement along with the release.

"This was the first time that this key oversight function was hampered, and our Committee’s jurisdiction was challenged."

Neal added that: "a president is no ordinary taxpayer. They hold power and influence, unlike any other American. And with great power comes even greater responsibility."

Trump's finances have been shrouded in mystery and intrigue since his days as an up-and-coming Manhattan real estate developer in the 1980s.

Multiyear battle for transparency

Friday's release caps a multiyear battle between the former Republican president and Democratic lawmakers.

Unlike every president and major-party candidate since Richard Nixon, Trump refused to make his returns public before seeking the White House and during his presidency.

He fought through the courts to keep them secret until the Supreme Court ruled last month that he had to turn them over to Congress.

US President Jo Biden's tax affairs in 2020 and 2021 were audited along with former President Barack Obama during each of his eight years in office, their spokespersons said.

The House committee had previously released two reports, revealing extensive details about Trump's financial affairs before deciding to make the original tax documents accessible to the public.

The publication is the latest blow for Trump, 76, who was impeached twice by the Democratic-led House only to be acquitted both times by the US Senate.

Earlier this month, the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by his supporters asked federal prosecutors to charge him with four crimes including obstruction and insurrection for his role in the deadly riot.

mm/jcg (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)