Enlarge image
Ex-US President Trump (January 2021 in Georgia)
Photo:
Almond Ngan / AFP
The tax documents of former US President Donald Trump are to be published, at least in part.
A congressional committee controlled by Democrats voted Tuesday evening to pass a report with documents to the US House of Representatives.
In November, the US Supreme Court cleared the way for the release of Trump's tax returns after a year-long legal battle.
The tax authority IRS subsequently handed over the documents for the years 2015 to 2020 to the tax policy committee (»Ways and Means Committee«).
This committee, controlled by the US Democrats, had argued that it needed the documents to understand how well the tax authorities could check presidents' finances.
The aim is possible legal reforms.
Trump, on the other hand, accuses MPs of pursuing purely political goals: they wanted to ensure that his tax returns were made public in order to harm him.
Trump was the first president since Richard Nixon (1969 to 1974) to refuse to disclose his tax returns.
This led to speculation that the very rich real estate entrepreneur had something to hide.
During the 2020 campaign, The New York Times reported that Trump paid no federal income tax in 11 of the 18 years between 2000 and 2017 – and only $750 each in 2016 and 2017.
Trump was defeated by his competitor Joe Biden in the November 2020 presidential election.
The Republican has already entered the 2024 presidential race.
On Monday, the parliamentary investigative committee into the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 recommended the Justice Department criminal proceedings against the ex-president on four counts.
The accusation is, among other things, inciting or aiding in an uprising.
aar/dpa