Tag: Richard Neal

by Molly Prince   House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal subpoenaed the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service on Friday to obtain President Donald Trump’s last six tax returns. “After reviewing the options available to me, and upon the advice of counsel, I issued a subpoena today to the secretary of the Treasury and the commissioner of the I.R.S. for six years of personal and business returns,” Neal told The New York Times. “While I do not take this step lightly, I believe this action gives us the best opportunity to succeed and obtain the requested material.” Neal sent the subpoena to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and I.R.S. commissioner Charles Rettig following Mnuchin’s refusal on Monday to provide House Democrats access to Trump’s personal and business tax returns dating back to the year 2013. Mnuchin contended at the time that the request was politically motivated. He further argued that turning the documents over would violate taxpayer privacy laws and warned that lawmakers would be vulnerable to the same prying. House Democrats have been threatening for years to seize Trump’s tax returns. The president notably caused an outcry after he disregarded decades of precedent by…

The Democratic chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on Saturday set a new April 23 deadline for the Internal Revenue Service to comply with his request for six years of President Donald Trump’s personal and business tax returns. In a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal said the tax agency’s failure to comply with the new deadline would be interpreted as a denial of his request. The Trump administration has already failed to comply with an earlier April 10 deadline set by Neal. Democrats want to review Trump’s taxes as part of their investigations into possible conflicts of interest posted by his continued ownership of extensive business interests, even as he serves the public as president. Trump broke with a decades-old precedent by refusing to release his returns as a presidential candidate in 2016 and continues to do so as president, saying his tax returns are under IRS audit. Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, is the only House lawmaker authorized to request taxpayer data from the Treasury, which oversees the IRS. The law says simply that the Treasury “shall furnish” such data when requested. But the White House has said the documents…

The head of a House Ways and Means Committee is formally asking the Internal Revenue Service to turn over the last six years of President Donald Trump’s tax returns. Congressman Richard Neal chairs the committee, which oversees tax policy, as Democrats seek to examine Trump’s complex business empire. Trump is the only U.S. president or candidate in more than 40 years to refuse to make his tax returns public. “It is critical to ensure that accountability of our government and elected officials,” Neal said Wednesday. “To maintain trust in our democracy, the American people must be assured that their government is operating properly, as laws intend.” Trump has said he cannot release his returns from 2013 through 2018 because he says he is under audit. “I’ve been under audit for many years because the numbers are big and I guess when you have a name, you’re audited,” he said Wednesday. But Neal is not asking Trump for the returns. He is asking the IRS, and there are no laws preventing the IRS from releasing the returns if they are being audited. Neal said he is certain the Ways and Means committee is within its “legitimate legislative, legal and oversight rights”…