Trump’s tax returns released, launching fresh scrutiny of his finances

House Democrats released several years’ worth of Donald Trump’s tax returns on Friday, a watershed in their long battle to pry the information loose from the former president.

The documents, covering 2015 to 2020, could provide new insight into Trump’s wealth, the performance of his business empire and how he was able to reduce his tax liability.

A preliminary analysis released last week by the House Ways and Means Committee found that Trump paid little to no taxes for several years by claiming huge business losses.

Committee Chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) sued the Treasury Department in 2019 to obtain the returns under a law that allows the heads of Congress’ tax committees to access anyone’s tax information, after Trump broke decades of tradition by refusing to voluntarily release them. After a long court battle, the Supreme Court in November cleared the way for Neal to get them.

The returns will now be available to tax experts and non-experts alike, a development that Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen has said Trump feared would result in the government levying additional taxes and penalties.

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