IRS must give Trump tax returns to Congress, says Justice Department

The US Justice Department has said the Treasury Department must provide the House Ways and Means Committee with former president Donald Trump’s tax returns, apparently ending a long legal showdown over the records.

During the Trump administration, then-treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said he would not turn over the tax returns because he concluded they were being sought by Democrats who control the House of Representatives for partisan reasons.

The committee sued for the records under a federal law that says the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) “shall furnish” the returns of any taxpayer to a handful of top legislators.

The committee said it needed Mr Trump’s taxes for an investigation into whether he complied with tax law.

In a memo dated Friday, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel said the committee chairman “has invoked sufficient reasons for requesting the former president’s tax information” and that under federal law “Treasury must furnish the information to the committee”.

Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr has already obtained copies of Mr Trump’s personal and business tax records as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Mr Trump tried to prevent his accountants from handing over the documents, taking the issue to the Supreme Court.

The justices rejected Mr Trump’s argument that he had broad immunity as president.