Rep. Panetta Votes to Release Report and Exhibits on the Failures of the IRS Mandatory Presidential Audit Program and Cosponsors Legislation to Fix the Program

Washington, DC – Congressman Jimmy Panetta (D-Carmel Valley) voted to release reports and their attached exhibits by the Committee on Ways and Means and the Joint Committee on Taxation on the failures of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) mandatory program to audit presidential and vice-presidential tax returns. Representative Panetta also cosponsored legislation to codify the program and ensure audits are completed in the future.

Since 1977, the IRS is supposed to conduct mandatory examinations of the federal income tax returns filed by Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States. Under United States Code section 6103(f), the Ways and Means Committee can request, receive, and place into the congressional record any information associated with the IRS Presidential Audit Program. After two requests by the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and multiple court decisions over the past six years, the IRS recently released information to the Ways and Means Committee concerning the IRS audit of former President Donald Trump's tax returns. The staff of the Ways and Means Committee and the Joint Committee on Taxation reviewed the information associated with presidential audit program and each wrote a report. The reports found that during the former president's time in office, the IRS began one mandatory audit for his 2016 tax year and failed to do anything else. To demonstrate that failure by the IRS and to lay the proper foundation to codify the mandatory Presidential Audit Program, the Ways and Means Committee voted to place the reports and their exhibits into the congressional record, making them public. Moreover, based on that evidence, Chairman Neal, with the support of Representative Panetta as a cosponsor, introduced legislation to mandate the Presidential Audit Program under federal law.

"The mandatory Presidential Audit Program is crucial to ensuring that the highest officeholders in the land pay their taxes just like you and me. Unfortunately, the evidence shows that this program is broken, as the IRS failed to carry out any audits during the previous administration," said Congressman Panetta. "As members of the Committee on Ways and Means, we have a duty to ensure that the IRS does its job and that the Presidential Audit Program works in the future. Fortunately, the Chairman, my fellow members of the Ways and Means Committee, and myself always have taken this issue very seriously and appreciated the gravity of releasing an individual's tax information. However, this evidence is necessary to not only prove to the American people the failures of the IRS, but also needed as foundational evidence for how we can best fix this program through the formulation of legislation that ensures that our tax laws are administered fairly."

The legislation proposed by Chairman Neal codifies the Presidential Audit Program and provides the resources necessary for the IRS to prioritize the audits of Presidents and Vice Presidents. Chairman Neal first requested President Trump's tax returns from the IRS in 2019, but the Trump Administration refused. Chairman Neal challenged the Administration in court, until the Biden Administration instructed the Treasury to produce the returns in July 2021. President Trump intervened in the case, but his counterclaims and appeals were dismissed, leading him to file an emergency application for a stay at the Supreme Court. In November 2022, the Supreme Court vacated a prior stay and denied further applications, leading to the release of the returns and information about the Presidential Audit program to the Ways and Means Committee.

###