This Friday, just hours before the House of Representatives is handed over to the Republicans, the Ways and Means Committee released its final report on former President Donald Trump's federal tax returns. The analysis spans from 2015 to 2020, focusing on his four years in the White House.
The report totals nearly 6,000 pages, with individual statements by Trump and his wife Melania taking up nearly half. Also, there are declarations from the commercial entities of the former president. Certain data, such as their bank account numbers, were deleted.
For many years, the Republican leader refused to present his federal tax information, and since 2016 he fought a legal battle to keep it private. However, last month, the Supreme Court ruled against him and ordered that Trump's statements be transferred to the Ways and Means Commission. After weeks of study, the Democrats in this body voted to make them public.
The extensive publication, which features an analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), finds that Trump and his wife reported negative income in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020. In 2018 and 2019, they recorded positive income in the amount of $24,300,000 and $4,400,000, respectively.
According to the analysis, in these two years of positive income, the couple's federal tax bill was $1,000,000 and $133,445. Meanwhile, in 2015, the bill was $641,931; in 2016 and 2017, $750; and in 2020, $0.
Trump's response
In general, Republicans questioned the release of the statements, arguing that the case will set a dangerous precedent on private information. Trump, in a video, assured that this is an "outrageous abuse of power" and he held Joe Biden accountable:
Biden is a corrupt politician who spent years selling out America all over the world, including to communist China — just take a look at his accounts, take a look at all of his homes and take a look at what his son Hunter has contributed to the family.
Rep. Kevin Brady claimed that this is the tax release of a "private citizen" and that "most voters want Congress to release the private returns of the Committee's own Democrats."
Look at this…
For 1st time in history Ways & Means Democrats forcibly released full tax returns of a private citizen (Trump).
NEW POLL: Majority of voters (R’s, D’s, Independents) want Congress to release private returns of the committee Democrats themselves. #SoItBegins https://t.co/gHhWGFMGb8
— Rep. Kevin Brady (@RepKevinBrady) December 29, 2022
