What do Donald Trump’s tax returns reveal about the former US president?

All presidents of the United States in recent decades have released their tax returns to the public for scrutiny. It just became the done thing. Then Donald Trump rolled up and despite saying he would follow suit, did everything in his power to evade the process. It was almost like he had something to hide.

So to today, and a Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives committee has taken it upon themselves to release the former president’s returns. Six years worth of information and a move that comes just days before Republicans are due to take control of the chamber.

How did Democrats release Trump’s taxes?

Release of Trump’s redacted returns for 2015 through 2020 caps a multi-year battle between the Republican former president and Democratic lawmakers that was settled only last month by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is the latest blow for Trump, 76, who was impeached twice by the Democratic-led House only to be acquitted both times by the U.S. Senate, and now faces multiple legal woes as he mounts a 2024 reelection bid.

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

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal requested the returns in 2019, arguing that Congress needed them to determine if legislation on presidential tax returns was warranted. Republicans said the move could lead to the political weaponization of individual tax returns and warned that party members who take over the panel next month would face pressure to pursue a similar path against high-profile Democrats.

Trump, who took office in 2017, went so far as to sue the committee to try to keep them private but the U.S. high court ruled in the committee’s favor.

In a report last week, the committee outlined its findings from its examination of the documents, saying the Internal Revenue Service broke its own rules by not auditing Trump for three out of four years while he was president.

How Trump avoided paying income tax

Details previously released by the panel showed Trump paid no income tax in 2020, his final full year in office, despite millions of dollars in earnings from his sprawling business empire.

The records show Trump’s income and tax liability fluctuated dramatically from 2015 through 2020, during his first presidential bid and subsequent term in office. They show Trump and his wife Melania Trump claimed large deductions and losses and paid little or no income tax in several of those years. While the average American is paying their fair share to the system, it turns out, unsurprisingly, that self-confessed genius business was doing everything possible to avoid paying his fair share.

Democrats were on a tight timeline to find a way to handle the returns once they obtained them, given that Republicans will take control of the House on Tuesday after winning a slim majority in November’s midterm elections. The Democratic-controlled House passed a bill before it left on its winter recess that would mandate that the tax-collecting Internal Revenue Service complete audits of presidents’ tax filings within 90 days of their inaugurations.