It is customary for presidents and presidential candidates to release their tax returns, but Trump has consistently refused. After years of legal battle, the committee received Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury Department in late November.

The parliamentary committee released a report of its findings earlier this month. Documents show that Trump and his wife, Melania, paid little or no federal income tax during their years in the White House. To this end, the couple claimed many discounts and huge business losses.

Trump paid $0 in income tax in his last full year as president. In the previous year, he had to pay $134,000 (€125,600) from the tax authority. In 2018 it was $1 million and the previous year it was $750.

The Democratic members of the committee believe that the US tax authorities did not check carefully enough whether the returns were authentic. According to committee chair Richard Neal, the IRS did absolutely nothing to find out about Trump’s tax affairs “until I asked for it myself.”

Last Tuesday, the committee voted 24 Democrats in favor and 16 Republicans against the publication. In the new year, the ratios are different, because then the Republicans have a majority in the House of Representatives.