FOIA Advisor

FOIA News: Court dismisses futile request for Trump's tax returns

Allan BlutsteinComment

Federal court can't force IRS to release Trump's tax returns

By Megan R. Wilson, The Hill, August 18, 2017

A federal judge on Friday said that the court could not compel the IRS to turn over President Trump’s tax returns. 

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) launched a suit against the IRS earlier this year after the agency refused to hand over the documents as part of an open-records request.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, EPIC had sought Trump’s personal tax returns from 2010 to the present day and any documents that may reveal financial relationships with the Russian government or Russian businesses.

However, personal tax forms are confidential. They can only be obtained if Trump himself gave the IRS permission to reveal the returns or if Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation signed off to allow the disclosure.

Read more here.