House Democrats seek six years of Trump tax returns from IRS

House Democrats on Wednesday formally requested the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to hand over six years of President Donald Trump's personal and business tax returns by next week.

According to The New York Times, Representative Richard E. Neal issued a two-page letter in which he told IRS commissioner, Charles P. Rettig, "Under the Internal Revenue Manual, individual income tax returns of a President are subject to mandatory examination, but this practice is IRS policy and not codified in the Federal tax laws."

"It is necessary for the Committee to determine the scope of any such examination and whether it includes a review of underlying business activities required to be reported on the individual income tax return," Neal said.

"Pursuant to my authority under Internal Revenue Code section 6103(f), for each of the tax years 2013 through 2018, I request the following return and return information," he added.

Neal gave the Revenue department until April 10 to comply with the request.

The Treasury Department and I.R.S. did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

However, Democrats anticipate that the Trump administration will object to the request and force the matter into the courts, where a formal judgment in the matter could take months or longer.

After becoming a Presidential candidate, Trump has refused to release any of his tax returns.

Democrats suspect the tax information could reveal evidence of wrongdoings by Trump.

Democrats have made the tax information one of their top priorities after taking control of the House in January.