(Newswire.net — June 5, 2017) — During the 2016 election, Donald Trump made it very clear: he couldn’t release his tax returns because he was being audited. Unfortunately, this was a falsehood and the IRS quickly countered that he absolutely could release the returns. When Trump didn’t follow through, then, it was particularly scandalous.
Now, with Trump at the helm and prepared to make radical changes to the American tax structure, it seems absolutely critical that he steps up and releases his tax returns. But if he doesn’t, could the IRS release them as part of the public record? While not precisely legal, there are several ways states and news sources are trying to get around this barrier.
Inside Audits
The fact that Trump’s taxes are currently being audited, a process that involves careful crosschecking of all tax documentation to make sure the filer isn’t hiding income or taking fraudulent deductions, makes this seem like an opportune moment for the IRS to make things public. Of course, that isn’t exactly legal, though Trump says he may release them when the audit is complete. The public isn’t exactly expectant on this front, however.
Audits are more common among the wealthy and Trump notes that he’s been under audit almost continuously since he became famous, but that’s a suspicious statement in itself. While those with a greater income are more likely to be audited than your average Joe, most wealthy individuals aren’t audited every year or even frequently. By his own admission, it sounds like something is amiss with Trump’s taxes.
Beyond The IRS
What can we as individuals or as a nation do if the IRS can’t and won’t release Trump’s tax returns? There are several workarounds on the table, starting with the ever present leaks that news sources rely on.
It was, after all, a leak that resulted in Rachel Maddow’s big Trump tax reveal, though she received only a small portion of his personal 1995 return. That leak was determined to have come from outside the IRS, as it was marked “client copy” but that doesn’t mean a leak couldn’t come from inside. MSNBC host Chris Matthews is currently lobbying for IRS employees to leak information from more recent Trump returns.
State Strategies
Leaks may not be especially likely (although no one knows what to expect anymore), but several states are attempting to make it so that no presidential candidate can get away with this kind of withholding again. How? By making the release of tax returns a prerequisite for being listed on their ballots.
New Jersey recently pushed a bill through both houses that would require all presidential candidates to release both their state and federal tax returns. Though Republican Governor Chris Christie vetoed the bill, we’re likely to see similar bills emerge in other states.
Home Field Advantage
In Trump’s home state of New York, there’s another strategy at work – and one that’s more likely to prevail. New York is currently formulating a bill that would authorize the state tax authority to publish the state tax returns of all candidates for national and statewide office. Of course, when the president doesn’t hail from New York, this will have no effect, but right now it’s a powerful force – and it applies to any tax returns filed while the individual is in office, as well.
The New York bill is an especially smart one because it skirts certain constitutional concerns, specifically that it might be read as a bill of attainder that targets a single individual. New York is also much more likely than New Jersey to be able to pass such a bill under the leadership of reform-minded Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo. And since individuals are likely to use the same profit hiding schemes on state taxes as on their federal returns, publishing Trump’s New York state returns could show us what he’s hiding.
Though the IRS can’t publish Trump’s tax returns, the states have other options to turn to and so citizens should lobby their local legislatures if they want to know what the president is trying to hide. This isn’t a matter of privacy – it’s a matter of public trust, honesty, and legitimate leadership.