Democratic Rep. Richard Neal has used his position as the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee to issue a formal request for six years of Donald Trump’s tax returns. Neal has asked for both Trump’s personal tax forms and for those forms filed by the Trump Organization, which is 100 percent owned by Trump.
As the New York Times reports, this move is expected to generate “a momentous fight” as Trump applies every roadblock he can to complying with the law. Trump has already said he would not comply because he was “being audited,” which is the same excuse he has used from 2015 onward for not releasing his returns. Neal’s authority to issue such a request is clear, as Ways and Means is authorized to seek the tax returns for any individual under investigation.
To obtain Trump’s taxes, Neal isn’t required to get a subpoena, or to seek approval from the full committee. Tax law includes a provision specifically giving the authority to request tax filings to the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee along with the chair of the Senate Finance Committee. Though the Times calls this authority a “little-known provision,” it is in fact used quite frequently to obtain the forms of companies and individuals asked to appear before the committee.
However, just because Neal has clear authority under the law doesn’t mean that Trump won’t fight it. It’s expected that he will order the IRS not to release his forms and force Congress to go through the courts to get the information. A plain reading of the law should make this little more than a formality, but Trump is still likely to tie up the process for months.
The request follows word on Wednesday that Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, will ask for a subpoena to compel the accounting firm Mazars USA to produce 10 years of documents for Trump and his company. Mazars has already made it clear that they will turn over these documents if presented with a subpoena.