Next week, members of a House Ways and Means subcommittee will be debating H.R.273 - Presidential Tax Transparency Act of 2019.
www.masslive.com/...
The tax-writing panel’s Oversight Subcommittee will consider the so-called “Presidential Tax Transparency Act,” as it meets on Feb. 7.
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The proposal -- which comes in response to Trump’s refusal to make his tax returns public -- would mandate that presidents, vice presidents and major party candidates running for either of the two executive offices release their 10 most recent federal income tax returns.
If a president, vice president or candidate failed to disclose such documents, the bill would require the Internal Revenue Service to provide redacted copies of their tax returns to the Federal Election Commission.
Bill sponsors, U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-New Jersey, and Anna G. Eshoo, D-California, said the hearing will highlight the 116th Congress' commitment to transparency, particularly as questions remain over Trump’s tax returns.
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Neal, who has said he will use his power as the Ways and Means chairman to request the president’s tax returns, meanwhile, said Thursday that any such move must be done “methodically and judiciously" as it will likely draw legal challenges.
“House counsel and the attorneys at the Ways and Means Committee are preparing the case,” he said. “I’m not going to flub it.”
That’s next Thursday, folks. The bill has over 60 co-sponsors.
Shockingly, none of them are Republicans.
As we all know, Trump originally (vehemently) promised to release them. Then showed that he had lied, citing as an excuse, that he was being audited.
That was nearly three years ago.
He could have released any number of previous years’ returns, which were NOT being audited.
Here’s a partial list of the things Trump has said about releasing his tax returns, going back to May, 2014, and continuing on to April 2017.
The last time Trump tweeted about it was in April of 2017.
MAY 20, 2014:
"If I decide to run for office, I'll produce my tax returns, absolutely," he said. "And I would love to do that."
FEBRUARY 25, 2015:
Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt that he would "certainly show tax returns if it was necessary."
OCTOBER 4, 2015:
"I'm thinking about maybe when we find out the true story on Hillary's emails"
JANUARY 24, 2016:
Asked if he would release them publicly, Trump said, "we're working on that now."
"I have very big returns, as you know, and I have everything all approved and very beautiful and we'll be working that over in the next period of time, Chuck," Trump said. "Absolutely."
FEBRUARY 11, 2016:
"we'll get them out at some point, probably."
FEBRUARY 24, 2016:
"We'll make a determination over the next couple of months," he said. "It's very complicated."
FEBRUARY 25, 2016:
He said that tax returns "have 0 to do w/ someone's net worth."
"I've had it for years. I get audited. And obviously if I'm being audited, I'm not going to release a return," he said. "As soon as the audit is done, I love it."
FEBRUARY 27, 2016:
"Tax experts throughout the media agree that no sane person would give their tax returns during an audit," he said. "After the audit, no problem!"
MAY 11, 2016:
"I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election!"
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 (during debate):
"I don't mind releasing. I'm under a routine audit, and it will be released.
As soon as the audit's finished, it will be released," he said.
OCTOBER 4, 2016:
Mike Pence says during a vice presidential debate with Democratic candidate Tim Kaine that Trump has not "broken his promise" about releasing tax returns.
"Look, Donald Trump has filed over 100 pages of financial disclosure, which is what the law requires," Pence said. He added that trump is "going to release his tax returns when the audit is over."
JANUARY 22, 2017:
White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said on ABC's "This Week" that "the White House response is that he's not going to release his tax returns."
She added:
"We litigated this all through the election. People didn't care."
JANUARY 23, 2017 (Conway’s correction):
"On taxes, answers (& repeated questions) are same from campaign: POTUS is under audit and will not release until that is completed."
"I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College!" he tweeted. "Now Tax Returns are brought up again?"
APRIL 17, 2017:
Spicer, the White House press secretary, says Trump's tax returns are still under audit.
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Asked in a later exchange if we can assume Trump will never release his returns, Spicer said he would "get back to you on that."
I don’t have to tell you that Sean Spicer’s "get back to you on that." is worth exactly as much as Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ "get back to you on that."
So, what can we even expect from his returns?
I mean Trump seems to think that what we’re after is his net worth. Now why would he think that?
The disclosure forms do give wide estimates of asset value.
By the way, what DID we learn from Trump’s 2018 Financial disclosure forms?
Forbes magazine (no not the one he got spanked with, silly…….) has an article about that.
1. Trump is making money in Washington
At least, in his Washington, D.C. hotel. In its first full year of operations, the hotel did $40.4 million in revenue.
2. The Trump name does not appear to be worth what it once was
On his financial disclosure filing two years ago, Trump listed five product licensing companies with over $100,000 in revenues. This year, he reported that only one of them made that much money.
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5. Business appears to be declining at Mar-a-Lago
The president’s Palm Beach club generated $25.1 million in revenues in 2017. A previous financial disclosure showed that the business took in $37.3 million from Jan. 1, 2016 to April 15, 2017.
6. The Trump family’s new hotel lines opened with a dud
The president’s latest financial disclosure report suggests that, so far, those businesses have produced little more than noise.
7. The president took an ownership stake in his children’s new ventures
Through a web of holding companies, Donald Trump owns 77% of the new ventures, and his family members own the remaining 23%.
8. Trump faced off with the Office of Government Ethics
On his filing, Trump wrote that the [Cohen/Stormy] loan was “not required to be disclosed.” But federal ethics officials, wrote the opposite—that the debt “is required to be reported.” The acting director of the Office of Government Ethics referred the documents to the Department of Justice.
9. Trump’s golf course visits may actually be costing him money
Ethics experts have long questioned whether the president has been frequenting his own properties as a way of generating free advertising. If that was Trump’s plan, it seems to be failing. Revenues dropped an estimated 10% at his club in West Palm Beach and 6% at one outside Washington, D.C. Trump’s best-performing U.S. courses appear to be the ones he has not visited since becoming president.
But tax returns would reveal much more.
Even the top two pages of his 1040 and Schedule A, for example, would say how much taxable income he made, how much he paid in taxes, his charitable contributions and whether he paid tax to any foreign governments.
……..paid tax to any foreign governments.
Taxes? No.
Favors?……………...certainly! Two years’ worth.