During the 2016 campaign, Trump said he would release his tax returns when the IRS audit was finished. Apparently, that audit will never be completed. The New York Times says there is a reason that Trump is hiding his tax returns. The Times says that the Trump family engaged in fraudulent practices to avoid paying taxes. Also during the campaign, Trump asserted that smart people (like him) avoid taxes. If everyone were that smart, the government would not have enough revenue to provide any public services. No Social Security, no Medicare, no military, no foreign aid, no federal courts, no disease control, no environmental protection, no national parks, no government services without revenues.

Here is the Washington Post summary of the Times’ voluminous report, Plus news that New York’s Tax Agency will investigate whether it was cheated by the Trump family.

“New York state’s tax agency said it is considering an investigation into allegations detailed in a New York Times story that President Trump participated in “dubious tax schemes” that allowed his father to pass him more than $413 million while minimizing tax payments.

“In some instances, these schemes amounted to “outright fraud,” the Times story said.

The Times said it had unraveled a complex effort by Trump’s father, Fred, to build and then pass along his wealth by examining more than 100,000 pages of documents from the businesses of Fred Trump. It said that, starting in the 1990s, Donald Trump had helped his father lower his tax bills via a sham corporation that processed padded invoices, by using improper tax deductions and by systematically undervaluing his father’s real estate properties.

“The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the [Times] article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation,” said James Gazzale, a spokesman for the New York Department of Taxation and Finance.

“On Capitol Hill, some Democrats renewed calls for Trump to release his tax returns — which he has repeatedly declined to do, unlike his predecessors.”

If the Democrats win control of the House in November, they can hold hearings that compel the release of Trump’s financial records.

Tax evasion is a crime. Lock him up!