US: IRS releases Donald Trump's tax records to House Committee

The US Treasury Department said Wednesday that it had complied with the Supreme Court's order and has made available Donald Trump's tax returns to a congressional committee. The court had last week declined to interfere in the matter, saying that the House has the right to request the tax returns from the IRS.A department spokesperson said “Treasury has complied with last week’s court decision”.

Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee now is in possession of six years of Trump’s federal tax returns. However, it is not known if the committee has accessed the documents yet.

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Led by Democratic Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the committee had sought Trump's personal as well as his companies' tax records, primarily from the time he was president. Trump has been trying to block access to his tax returns and of his businesses for years now.

CNN reported Neal as saying that the Democrats would meet as a caucus to discuss the best way to handle the tax returns and get legal advice on how to proceed.

He has always kept his tax returns a secret, even during the 2016 election campaign and later during his tenure as president on the premise of an ongoing audit by the IRS. After losing at the lower court level, Trump had moved the Supreme Court that comprised three of his nominees, arguing that the only reason the committee wants the tax records is so that it can make them public.

The Treasury Department had refused to provide the records while Trump was president. But the Biden administration said federal law states that the committee has the right to examine any taxpayer’s return, including the president’s.

Chief Justice John Roberts of the lower court had put a temporary hold on the matter on November 1 to give the judges more time to understand the concerns of Trump's legal team and the counter arguments of the administration and the House of Representatives. However, it was lifted three weeks later.

Following the Supreme Court's order, Neal had said that his committee “will now conduct the oversight that we’ve sought for the last three and a half years.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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