What Trump’s tax returns might reveal if the Supreme Court allows access

The Supreme Court will determine next year whether investigators may finally get a glimpse at President Donald Trump’s tax returns.

The court said on Friday that it will hear three cases regarding the president’s financial records in 2020, with arguments scheduled for March.

One case focuses on an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. The DA is looking into the Trump Organization and has served a subpoena seeking eight years of tax returns.

The two others relate to subpoenas from House Democrats, who are seeking details on the president’s finances from Mazars LLP, longtime accounting firm, and from Deutsche Bank, one of his lenders.

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While a tax return won’t tell you everything about any one filer’s finances on its own, when combined with other documents including a statement of net worth, it can provide a more complete picture of that person’s bottom line.

“What you can see from the individual Form 1040 are the types and sources of income, including whether the taxpayer has capital gains or dividend income,” said Joshua D. Blank, professor of law at the University of California, Irvine.

“What you can’t see is wealth,” he said. “We tax people based on annual income and not total wealth.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/17/what-trumps-tax-returns-may-reveal-if-the-supreme-court-allows-access.html