Reuters
- The New York legislature passed a bill Wednesday that would make it easier for Congress to get President Donald Trump’s state tax returns.
- The bill is expected to be signed into law by Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and authorizes the state’s Department of Taxation and Finance to release any state tax return requested by one of three congressional committees for any "specified and legitimate legislative purpose."
- Because New York is Trump’s home state and the hub of many of his business dealings, his state tax return is likely to contain much of the same information as his federal returns.
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The New York legislature on Wednesday passed a bill that would make it easier for Congress to get President Donald Trump’s state tax returns.
The bill, which is expected to be signed into law by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, authorizes the commissioner of the New York Department of Taxation and Finance to release any state tax return requested by one of three congressional committees for any "specified and legitimate legislative purpose."
New York is Trump’s home state and the central hub for most of Trump’s business dealings. It’s also the site of Trump’s campaign headquarters. For that reason, Trump’s state tax returns are likely to contain much of the same information as his federal taxes.
The bill’s passage comes as state authorities launch sprawling investigations of the president’s financial records. It also comes as Trump engages in a widespread effort to resist Congress’ efforts to get his federal taxes and other information related to his personal business dealings.
In March, the New York State Department of Financial Services subpoenaed records from Aon, Trump’s longtime insurance company. The move came after Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified to Congress that the president routinely falsified his financial health for tax and insurance purposes.
The New York state attorney general’s office has also subpoenaed Deutsche Bank, which Cohen said received financial statements from Trump that misrepresented his assets.
Trump’s net worth has perhaps been the biggest question mark looming over his real-estate career.
The president’s financial dealings also invited further scrutiny following the publication of several years of Trump’s tax information.
The latest leak came this month, when The New York Times published details of the president’s 1985 to 1994 tax records, which expose losses of more than $1 billion over the course of nine years by Trump’s hotel and casino businesses.
According to The Times, Trump lost more money during part of that time period than almost any other individual US taxpayer.
Meanwhile, another Times investigation last week found that Deutsche Bank, which is also under congressional scrutiny, buried several reports of suspicious financial activity from entities linked to Trump and Jared Kushner. Instead of sending those reports to the US Treasury Department’s financial crimes watchdog, the bank reportedly had them reviewed by its own managers and determined they weren’t worth passing on.
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Source: Business Insider – ssheth@businessinsider.com (Sonam Sheth)