Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-26) announced the approval of the Presidential Tax Filings and Audit Transparency Act (H.R.9640). Introduced by Representative Richard Neal (D-MA), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, following the committee’s receipt and review of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns this legislation will ensure that our tax laws are applied equally to all taxpayers, regardless of position or power.
“Congress has a duty to conduct thorough oversight of the Executive Branch as well as our federal agencies to ensure that our laws are being applied evenly and justly to all Americans. An investigation by the House Ways and Means Committee revealed that the IRS was not performing mandatory audits, in accordance with its own policy, under the Trump Administration,” said Congressman Higgins. “This legislation will ensure that no one is above the law, not even a president. It provides the transparency that our democracy demands to restore trust in our institutions and the function of our system of checks and balances.”
In 1977, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) adopted a policy of conducting mandatory audits on the President and the Vice President as a check on their power and to ensure IRS employees didn’t fear retaliation for simply doing their jobs by conducting thorough audits. The House Ways and Means Committee has the responsibility to oversee the IRS, including the mandatory presidential audit program. On December 19, 2022, following a four-year legal battle, the committee received former President Trump’s returns. An investigation found that the presidential audit program was dormant under the Trump Administration with just one audit opened by the IRS while the former president was in office.
The Presidential Tax Filings and Audit Transparency Act will require the IRS to conduct an audit of the President’s tax returns, along with any entities controlled by the President, as rapidly as possible after filing. It also requires the agency to provide public updates on the status of the audits and publicly disclose the President’s tax returns, along with those of any entities, within 90 days of filing. The measure applies to returns by the president while they are in office, as well as returns by their spouse, any corporations or partnerships they control, and certain associated estates and trusts.
United States Code Section 6103 provides authority for tax return information to be released to congressional tax committees upon written request from the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. On April 3, 2019, Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal made a written request for former President Trump’s tax returns to ensure the presidential audit program was operating correctly. Following multiple attempts by Trump’s legal team to withhold this information, the courts agreed with the Committee’s legal authority to receive the tax returns.
Congressman Higgins, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, voted with the Committee to publicly release a report on Dec. 20 on the investigation of the IRS mandatory presidential audit program under the Trump Administration.
Now approved by the House, H.R.9640 will move to the Senate for consideration.
