Justice Department says IRS must give Trump tax returns to Congress
By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press
Posted:
Updated:
AP Photo/LM Otero, File
In this July 11, 2021, file photo former president Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas. The Justice Department says the Treasury Department must provide the House Ways and Means Committee Trump’s tax returns, apparently ending a long legal showdown over the records.
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Tennessee households pay 19% less in state and U.S. taxes than the median American household. The state ranks the second-worst in the country when it comes to taxes on food, just behind Mississippi.
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Colorado households pay 21% less in taxes than the median American household. Colorado boasts the third-lowest real estate tax rate in the country at 1.8%, behind Hawaii (1%) and Alabama (1.4%).
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Idaho households pay 22% less in taxes than the median American household. Idaho is also tied with South Carolina for the fifth-lowest cigarette tax rate.
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Utah households pay 23% less in taxes than the median American household. Utah’s 3.75% sales tax puts it at the 10th-lowest for that measure. The lowest sales tax rate is Oregon’s at 1.1%.
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Florida households pay 24% less in taxes than the median American household. Florida is one of 35 states that does not impose a tax on food.
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Wyoming households pay 26% less in taxes than the median American household. Wyoming is among six other states, including neighboring South Dakota, with $0 income tax.
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Nevada households pay 27% less in taxes than the median American household. Nevada’s 1% income tax rate is comparatively small, coming in at 11th-lowest in the country.
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Montana comes in as third-best in the country with a 7% tax rate. Residents there pay 35% less in taxes than the median American household, and Montana’s 1.2% sales tax is the second lowest on the list.
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Runner-up Delaware boats a 6.25% tax rate, and households there pay 42% less in taxes than the median American household. Delaware would be No. 1 in the rankings when adjusted for cost of living.
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Alaska is the best state in the country for taxpayers, with households paying 46% less in taxes than the median American household. With a 5.84% state and local tax rate that would apply to a median U.S. household, Alaskans pay about $4,600 in taxes annually and enjoy the lowest gas prices per gallon in the country.
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While the top 10 states offer lower state and local taxes, taxpayers in the most tax-expensive states pay three times more than those in the cheapest states. Here are the 10 states with the highest overall tax rates.
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New Jersey households pay 19% more in taxes than the median American household. New Jersey imposes the fourth-highest gas taxes in the country, coming in behind Illinois, Pennsylvania and California. The Garden State's rate is five times higher than that of the lowest state, Alaska.
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Ohio households pay 22% more in taxes than the median American household. Ohio is one of 24 states on this list that requires $0 in vehicle taxes.
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Iowa households pay about 22% more in taxes than the median American household. Iowa ranks 40th overall for real estate taxes, with a 5.4% real estate tax rate.
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Wisconsin households pay about 22% more in taxes than the median American household. Wisconsin imposes a 3% income tax rate, slightly higher than the 2.9% imposed by neighboring Illinois.
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Nebraska households pay about 23% more in taxes than the median American household, putting the state at No. 46 for taxes. When adjusted for cost of living, however, Nebraska would come in at No. 38.
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Kansas households pay 29% more in taxes than the median American household. Kansas is the third-worst state in the country for food taxes.
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Pennsylvania households pay 24% more in taxes than the median American household. Pennsylvanians also pay the second-highest gas taxes in the country, coming in behind California.
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New York’s 14% tax rate means residents pay 30% more in taxes than the median American household. New York and Connecticut are tied for the second-highest tax rates on cigarettes in the country.
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Runner-up for the worst state for taxpayers is Connecticut, where the 37% tax rate means residents pay about $11,600 in taxes per year. Imposing a seemingly small 1.03% vehicle tax property tax rate makes Connecticut the fifth-worst state in that category.
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Illinois residents pay about 39% more in taxes than the median American household, making it the worst state for taxpayers. Compared to the best tax state in these rankings, Illinoisans pay 61% more in taxes than Alaskans. Despite that, Illinoisans are not responsible for any vehicle property taxes.
Justice says IRS must give Trump tax returns to Congress
By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department, in a reversal, says the Treasury Department must provide the House Ways and Means Committee former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, apparently ending a long legal showdown over the records.
In a memo dated Friday, Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel said the committee chairman “has invoked sufficient reasons for requesting the former President’s tax information” and that under federal law, “Treasury must furnish the information to the Committee.”
The 39-page memo is signed by Dawn Johnsen, installed by the Biden administration as the acting head of the legal counsel office.
During the Trump administration, then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he wouldn’t turn over the tax returns because he concluded they were being sought by Democrats who control the House of Representatives for partisan reasons.
The committee sued for the records under a federal law that says the Internal Revenue Service “shall furnish” the returns of any taxpayer to a handful of top lawmakers. The committee said it needed Trump’s taxes for an investigation into whether he complied with tax law.
Trump’s Justice Department defended Mnuchin’s refusal and Trump himself also intervened to try to prevent the materials from being turned over to Congress. Under a court order from January, Trump would have 72 hours to object after the Biden administration formally changes the government’s position in the lawsuit.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. already has obtained copies of Trump’s personal and business tax records as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Trump tried to prevent his accountants from handing over the documents, taking the issue to the Supreme Court. The justices rejected Trump’s argument that he had broad immunity as president.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the tax returns remain of interest to lawmakers. “Access to former President Trump’s tax returns is a matter of national security. The American people deserve to know the facts of his troubling conflicts of interest and undermining of our security and democracy as president,” Pelosi said in a statement.
The issue has its roots in the 2016 presidential campaign, when Trump claimed that he could not release his taxes due to an IRS audit.
