On April 3, 2019, Ways & Means Committee chairman Representative Richard Neal requested copies of President Trump’s tax returns from 2013 – 2018. A copy of the letter and request can be found here. The request states that they are looking into the extent in which the IRS audits a US President. If you are looking into whether the IRS audits a Presidential tax return, or the scope, why would you need copies of the said returns? The House Ways & Means Committee is certainly within it’s scope to ask questions of the IRS regarding practice and to make changes to tax laws and process. It does not seem necessary to obtain Presidential tax records, and specifically of only one President.
It actually goes much deeper into the liberal agenda that Democrats have been pushing since the 2016 election cycle. Brian Faler even calls this out in his article at Politico where he discusses Democrat concerns over “conflicts of interest, connections to Russia and how much he [President Trump] pays in taxes.” It is true that President Trump is one of only two candidates that has not released tax return data (the other being Gerald Ford). The question is, what will the tax return information do for the overall good of the country?
The argument from Democrats is that they want to prove that rich people do not pay their fair share of taxes. They specifically refer to the top 1% of earners. Maybe Democrats should look inside their own house before pointing fingers. Just released was information that Presidential-candidate Beto O’Rourke underpaid taxes for two years. Jason Howerton wrote an article discussing 5 other situations of Democrat tax problems 3 years ago.
At the end of the day, if President Trump’s tax returns are released, what is accomplished? The Democrats will continue to use it for political gain and spend countless hours and resources to win the 2020 election. Democrats should focus on doing their jobs rather than pointless political games.
