I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 950 

To require the disclosure of the Federal income tax returns of the President. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2019 

Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, and Mr. DEFAZIO) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the disclosure of the Federal income tax returns 

of the President. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Presidential Tax Disclo5 sure Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF FEDERAL INCOME TAX RETURNS 

7 OF THE PRESIDENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any individual holding the office 

9 of President shall submit to the Director of the Office of 


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1 Government Ethics a copy of each Federal income tax re2 turn filed by such individual with the Internal Revenue 

3 Service for any taxable year ending during the period such 

4 individual holds such office. Such copy shall be so sub5 mitted not later than the earlier of the date which is 90 

6 days after such return is so filed or the end of the calendar 

7 year in which such return is so filed. 

8 (b) APPLICATION TO CERTAIN PRIOR YEAR RE9 TURNS.—Not later than 90 days after an individual first 

10 assumes the office of President, such individual shall sub11 mit to the Director of the Office of Government Ethics 

12 a copy of each Federal income tax return filed by such 

13 individual with the Internal Revenue Service for the 3 

14 most recent taxable years ending before the date on which 

15 such individual first assumes such office. 

16 (c) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.—In the case of any Fed17 eral income tax return received by the Director of the Of18 fice of Government Ethics under subsection (a) or (b) of 

19 this section or section 6103(l)(23) of the Internal Revenue 

20 Code of 1986, the Director shall, not later than 7 business 

21 days after receiving such return— 

22 (1) make such return publicly available on the 

23 internet; and 

24 (2) submit such return to the Committees on 

25 the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight and 


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1 Reform of the House of Representatives and to the 

2 Committees on the Judiciary and Finance of the 

3 Senate. 

4 (d) SPECIAL RULES.— 

5 (1) DISCLOSURE OF ENTIRE RETURN.—Any 

6 reference in this section to a Federal income tax re7 turn includes all schedules, supplements, amend8 ments, and attachments with respect to such return. 

9 In the case of any such schedule, supplement, 

10 amendment, or attachment which is not filed with 

11 the Internal Revenue Service on the same date as 

12 the return, such schedule, supplement, amendment, 

13 or attachment shall be treated as a separate return 

14 for purposes of determining the deadline for submis15 sion and disclosure under this section. 

16 (2) PERMITTED REDACTIONS.—No information 

17 may be redacted from any return submitted or dis18 closed under this section, except the following infor19 mation: 

20 (A) Any Social Security number of any in21 dividual. 

22 (B) Any taxpayer identification number of 

23 any person. 

24 (C) Any account identification number. 


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1 (D) Any name of any dependent of the 

2 taxpayer. 

3 (3) APPLICATION TO SPOUSES.— 

4 (A) JOINT RETURNS.—In the case of any 

5 return which is filed jointly with the spouse of 

6 any individual, the entire return shall be treated 

7 as the return of such individual for purposes of 

8 this section. 

9 (B) SEPARATE RETURNS.—If the spouse of 

10 any individual to whom subsection (a) applies 

11 files a Federal income tax return which is sepa12 rate from such individual, this section and sec13 tion 6103(l)(23) of the Internal Revenue Code 

14 of 1986 shall apply to such return in the same 

15 manner as such section would apply if such re16 turn were filed by such individual. 

17 (e) ENFORCEMENT BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.— 

18 (1) The Attorney General may bring a civil ac19 tion in any appropriate United States district court 

20 against any individual who knowingly falsifies or 

21 who knowingly fails to submit or disclose any infor22 mation that such individual is required to submit or 

23 disclose pursuant to this section or section 

24 6103(l)(23) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 


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1 The court may assess against such individual a civil 

2 penalty in an amount of not more than $50,000. 

3 (2) It shall be unlawful for any person to know4 ingly— 

5 (A) falsify any information that such per6 son is required to submit or disclose under this 

7 section or section 6103(l)(23) of the Internal 

8 Revenue Code of 1986; or 

9 (B) fail to so submit or disclose such infor10 mation. 

11 (3) Any person who— 

12 (A) violates paragraph (2)(A) shall be 

13 fined not more than $50,000, imprisoned for 

14 not more than 6 months, or both, and 

15 (B) violates paragraph (2)(B) shall be 

16 fined not more than $50,000, imprisoned for 

17 not more than 6 months or both. 

18 (4) The Director of the Office of Government 

19 Ethics, or any Committee referred to in subsection 

20 (c)(2), may refer to the Attorney General the name 

21 of any individual which such Director or Committee 

22 has reasonable cause to believe has violated para23 graph (2). 

24 (f) ALTERNATIVE DISCLOSURE BY SECRETARY OF

25 THE TREASURY.—Section 6103(l) of the Internal Revenue 


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1 Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(23) DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURNS OF THE

4 PRESIDENT.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If any Federal income 

6 tax return required to be submitted to the Di7 rector of the Office of Government Ethics under 

8 subsection (a) or (b) of section 2 of the Presi9 dential Tax Disclosure Act of 2019 is not so 

10 submitted before the date specified in such sub11 section with respect to such submission (or if 

12 any such return so submitted is incomplete or 

13 inaccurate), the Secretary shall disclose such re14 turn to the Director of the Office of Govern15 ment Ethics not later than 30 days after such 

16 date. 

17 ‘‘(B) REDACTIONS; ETC.—Rules similar to 

18 the rules of section 2(d) of the Presidential Tax 

19 Disclosure Act of 2019 shall apply for purposes 

20 of this paragraph, except that the Secretary 

21 shall redact the information described in sub22 paragraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (2) 

23 of such section before disclosing such return 

24 under subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(C) REDISCLOSURE.—Return information 

2 disclosed under subparagraph (A) may be redis3 closed by the Director of the Office of Govern4 ment Ethics as provided in section 2(c) of the 

5 Presidential Tax Disclosure Act of 2019.’’. 

6 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend7 ments made by this section, shall apply with respect to 

8 individuals assuming the office of President after Decem9 ber 31, 2016. 

Æ 


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