IRS Fails to Meet Congressional Deadline to Hand Over Trump Tax Returns

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday failed to meet a congressional deadline for turning over President Donald Trump's tax returns to lawmakers, setting the stage for a court battle between Congress and the administration.

The outcome, which was widely expected, could prompt House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal to subpoena Trump's tax records as the opening salvo to a legal fight that may ultimately have to be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Neal set a final 5 p.m. EDT deadline for the IRS and Treasury to provide six years of Trump's individual and business tax records. But a Democratic committee aide said the deadline passed without the panel receiving the documents.

Earlier on Tuesday, the White House said Trump was unlikely to hand over his tax returns. "As I understand it, the president's pretty clear: Once he's out of audit, he'll think about doing it, but he's not inclined to do so at this time," White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told Fox News in an interview.

"This is not up to the president. We did not ask him," said a Democratic committee aide, who cited a law saying the Treasury secretary "shall furnish" taxpayer data upon request from an authorized lawmaker.

"In terms of the law, what he says is largely irrelevant," said the aide, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the White House remarks.

Neal informed IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in a letter earlier this month that failure to comply with the deadline would be viewed as a denial.