Today, U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA-16) reintroduced the Presidential Tax Transparency Act, legislation requiring sitting presidents and vice presidents and major party candidates for the presidency and vice presidency to publicly disclose their 10 most recent federal income tax returns.

“Trump’s regime may be gone but the stench of his corruption remains. Our bill to compel transparency from presidential candidates remains more important than ever,” said Rep. Pascrell, who successfully led the fight in Congress to obtain Trump’s tax returns. “For decades, every major candidate for the presidency had released their financial information. That cherished tradition ended with Donald Trump. Sadly, we can no longer rely on Republican candidates to do the right thing and unveil all their sources of income. That’s why this bill is absolutely essential. Thank you to Congresswoman Eshoo for her leadership demanding transparency. Never again can a presidential candidate be permitted to shield themselves from oversight.”

“The American people must be confident their President works in the public interest, not for their own financial gain. That’s why our legislation requires presidential candidates to release their tax returns,” said Rep. Eshoo. “Tax returns contain vital information for the public, including what taxes they’ve paid; what charitable contributions they’ve made; what investments they hold, where they are held and whether tax loopholes have been employed. Only a full release of tax returns can provide the public with clear information about potential conflicts of interest or entanglements with foreign governments or businesses.”

According to the Tax History Project, every president since 1976 has released their tax returns while in office until 2016, but this practice is not required by current law. The Presidential Tax Transparency Act requires sitting presidents and vice presidents, and candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency of major parties, to submit their 10 most recent federal income tax returns to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and make them available to the public. “Major parties” are defined in the tax code as parties whose candidate received more than 25 percent of the popular vote in the previous presidential election. If a president or candidate fails to disclose their tax returns, the IRS is required to provide redacted copies to the FEC for public disclosure.