Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, has on Friday declared his intention not to honor the House Democratic Subpoena which asked for President Trump’s six years business and personal tax returns.
In his letter addressed to Richard Neal, Massachusetts Democratic Representative who also doubles as the chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee, Steven Mnuchin claims that the request for the President’s tax returns lacks legitimate legislative intentions, and his department will not disclose nor return information about the requested tax returns. According to him, he already consulted the Department of Justice before making the decision.
In a statement by Richard Neal after he served the Subpoena, he opines his action will hopefully allow the Democrats to succeed and obtain the material which he hopes will be supplied by the Treasury Department within a week.
The President’s tax returns have been a contentious issue ever since his campaign period in 2015 and throughout his administration. This is because he has refused to release his financial detail as he claimed complication with his tax returns and maintains he will not release them until the Internal Revenue Service finishes auditing them.
In his federal tax returns falling between 1985 and 1994, obtained by the New York Times last week, a loss of $1.17 billion was recorded in his real estate businesses which when compared with other high-income earners, he was the higher loser. The losses were substantial enough that he was exempted from tax payment in 8 years of the decade under review.