Legislature Passes Bill to Allow Congress to Obtain the President’s State Tax Filings

This week the Legislature passed a bill designed to help congressional investigationsby allowing the state Department of Taxation and Finance to release state tax filings to certain congressional committees upon request from the chairperson. The amended version of the bill narrows the original language to only applying to tax filings for the current or prior year and to only certain individuals that hold federal, state, or local elected office or executive branch staff that is subject to Senate confirmation. Reports this week suggest that congress may still not take advantage of this new law. The bills have not yet been sent to the Governor for approval, but, it is expected that he will sign them upon delivery.

Bill sponsor Assemblyman Buchwald said:

“This bill stands for the principle of transparency with regards to top officials tax returns, recognizing that shedding light on conflicts and potential conflicts of interest is an important public purpose. The New York State Legislature has stepped up to promote transparency while the Treasury Department has instead denied lawful requests for tax records from the House of Representatives.”

Senator Hoylman said:

“Today, New York is stepping up and providing Congress with another vehicle through which to obtain the president’s taxes, albeit his state taxes. But as the home state of the president and many of his companies I think there’s a lot of information Congress might be interested in.”