Trump says he gets ‘unfairly’ audited by the IRS

Federal law prohibits the government from releasing an individual’s tax return, but most candidates do so voluntarily. Overall, fewer than 1% are audited every year, although the rate is closer to 10% for tax filers with incomes over $10 million.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz pointed out that he made public five years of returns when he was running for U.S. Senate, and was set to release two more years.

“Nothing prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information”, IRS spokesman Anthony Burke said in an e-mail.

“Just for your info, tax returns have 0 to do w/someone’s net worth”, he said on Twitter on Thursday.

Donald Trump said he can’t release tax returns because of audits.

On the one hand, The Washington Post consulted Steven Goldburd, a tax attorney, who agreed with Trump’s approach, encouraging readers to “Think of an audit as an investigation, an on-going investigation”, before stressing “Any person that has legal counsel, their legal counsel will say, ‘If you’re under investigation, you should not be talking to the media, you should not be talking to anyone other than your legal counsel or through your legal counsel.'” And, in case his message wasn’t clear enough, if he were Trump’s attorney, Goldburd “probably would not allow him to release anything”. Romney said that if Trump wants to wait until the audit is complete he could at least release his earlier returns. “Twelve years, or something like that”.

“Why am I audited every single year?” I have rich friends who never get audited. “And luckily I’m not being audited this year – or last year, for that matter”. The IRSs normal statute of limitations for an audit is three years — though that time frame is extended in instances of substantial underreporting and there is no time limit on reviews in the event of fraud.

“Well, maybe because of the fact that I’m a strong Christian, and I feel strongly about it and maybe there’s a bias”, Trump said.

Cuomo asked Trump to clarify, “What do you mean, religion?” But tax experts say it is normal for the IRS to disproportionately focus on high earners with complex returns. “Politics and religion do not factor into this”, its statement said. “The audit process is handled by career, non-partisan civil servants, and we have processes in place to safeguard the exam process”.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is arguably better known for being a billionaire than being a Christian. They argue that if any information is modified, it could alter the numbers or lead to other changes in previous tax returns.

The Internal Revenue Service and tax experts, though, say he can.

“The phrase “you don’t learn anything” is false”, said Stanford tax law professor Joseph Bankman. “He should not be releasing anything”.

The agency denied that any religious affiliation would make Trump more likely to be audited.