Ledger · 2016 campaign · № 73
Tax returns to be released 'as soon as the audit is finished'
Never delivered“I'm under a routine audit and it'll be released, and as soon as the audit is finished it will be released.”
- Promised
- , First 2016 presidential debate, Hofstra University
- Stated deadline
- “as soon as the audit is finished” → October 10, 2016
- Overdue by
- 9 years, 11 months as of September 22, 2026
- Re-promised
- 6 times with a fresh deadline
- Topic
- Transparency & records
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
Trump repeated the 'after the audit' line from 2015 onward and abandoned it once in office. Nothing in law bars releasing returns under audit. A 2022 House Ways and Means report found the mandatory presidential audit was not even started until 2019. Six years of returns became public only in December 2022 after the House Ways and Means Committee forced their release.