Trump taxes: US lawmakers get access to former president's returns

Mr Trump, who plans to run for the White House again in 2024, has long fought to keep his tax records sealed

Donald Trump's tax returns have been handed over to a committee of the US House of Representatives after the former president lost a long legal battle to keep them sealed.

The Treasury Department said it had complied with a Supreme Court order that the records should be given to a panel in the Democrat-controlled House.

It is not clear if the returns will be made public, or what they will reveal.

Mr Trump is yet to comment, but has previously denied any wrongdoing.

He declined to release the documents during his 2016 presidential run or subsequently - breaking a decades-old presidential custom.

Mr Trump recently announced a bid to run for the White House again in 2024, and has described the efforts to obtain his tax documents as politically motivated.

Various details about his finances have already emerged as he faces a range of investigations, including into his business dealings.

Among the revelations so far:

• Mr Trump has been accused of overstating the value of his properties to get more favourable loans and tax rates, as his Trump Organization faces both civil and criminal investigations in New York

• The New York Times has also investigated the ex-president's taxes, reporting in 2020 that he engaged in large-scale tax avoidance - something which is controversial but not illegal

• The newspaper alleged that Mr Trump paid no federal income tax in 11 of 18 years that were examined, and that he managed to lower his tax bill by reporting heavy business losses

It is unknown whether the tax return information will yield any major new information.

Following Wednesday's announcement from the Treasury Department, a congressional committee now has access to his returns for the years 2015-2020.

It was not disclosed whether the committee had immediately accessed the documents.

The panel in question - the Ways and Means Committee - is investigating whether presidents are being properly audited, and whether new laws are needed.

However, it may not have long to do its work.

The House will only be controlled by the Democratic Party for a few more weeks, before Mr Trump's Republicans take over in January - after winning a slim majority in last month's midterm elections.

The committee made its first request for Mr Trump's tax documents in 2019, after the Democrats took over the House.

Mr Trump took legal steps to block any such release, though ultimately failed when the Supreme Court last week cleared the way for his papers to be accessed by the panel.