Eshoo Introduces Legislation to Require Presidents and Presidential Candidates to Release Tax Returns
January 5th, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18) today introduced the Presidential Tax Transparency Act to require sitting presidents and presidential nominees of major parties to publicly disclose their three prior years of federal tax returns. Presidents would be required to disclose their returns in their annual disclosure documents, and nominees would be required to disclose their returns within 15 days of receiving their party’s nomination. The bill is the companion legislation to S. 26, authored by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).
“The American people justifiably expect those who seek or hold the highest office in the land to be open and transparent about their tax returns,” Eshoo said. “Tax returns contain vital information, such as were any taxes paid; were any charitable contributions made; were tax loopholes taken advantage of; and are any assets kept offshore.
“For decades, Presidents and candidates have disclosed their tax returns but this bipartisan practice has never been required by law. The Presidential Tax Transparency Act writes this important disclosure tradition into law. As former presidential candidate Mitt Romney stated last year, ‘tax returns provide the public with its sole confirmation of the veracity of a candidate’s representations regarding charities, priorities, wealth, tax conformance, and conflicts of interest.’”
Background
According to the Tax History Project, every President since 1976 has released their tax returns while in office, but this practice is not required by current law. The Presidential Tax Transparency Act requires the President and all major party Presidential nominees to publicly disclose their previous three years of tax returns with the Office of Government Ethics or Federal Election Commission. “Major parties” are defined in the tax code as parties whose candidate received more than 25 percent of the popular vote in the previous presidential election. If a President or candidate fails to disclose their tax returns, the Secretary of the Treasury is required to provide redacted copies for public disclosure.
Congresswoman Eshoo introduced similar legislation in the 114th Congress, along with 39 bipartisan cosponsors. The text of the Presidential Tax Transparency Act can be found here.
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Originally Posted by LibertyEagle
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