Trump’s tax returns to be released by House on Friday

Years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns will be released Friday by the Ways and Means Committee, according to a person familiar with the process.

The committee earlier this month voted to make the tax returns public once they were redacted to remove key identifying information, such as account numbers.

The documents, which are to include personal and business filings from 2015 to 2020, will be the first complete look into Trump’s tax records for the years he was running for office and in the White House.

In the week before Christmas, the committee released summary reports that showed in 2020 he paid $0 in personal federal income levies. The report also said he claimed large deductions that Congress’s non-partisan tax experts have said warrant more scrutiny.

The House Ways and Means Committee voted along party lines to make the returns public as part of its investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s presidential audit program, which found that the agency had failed to examine Trump’s tax returns while in office.

The House passed legislation on Dec. 22 that would mandate that the IRS conduct an annual audit of the president and then release the tax returns and examination results publicly. The Senate didn’t act on it before adjourning for the year.

Such a bill would serve as a backstop for future U.S. presidential candidates who buck the decades-long tradition of making tax records public during the campaign.

It’s unclear whether it could become law next year. Senate Democrats have pledged to take up the bill, but House Republicans, who will soon have a majority in the chamber, have criticized the proposal.