Tim Ryan Releases A Decade Of Tax Returns For ‘Full And Complete Transparency With The American People’

The Hill reports that 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Tim Ryan just released 10 years of his tax returns, making him the party’s latest candidate to release his finances to the public. And as with the others, he took the release to contrast his decision with President Donald Trump.

“Full and complete transparency with the American people is paramount to Congressman Tim Ryan,” a spokesperson for Ryan said in a statement.

“He understands that unity is built on trust earned with honesty and respect.”

The statement continued to criticize “Trump’s lies”, which it said are designed to divide communities to take the focus off his failures.

“… Tim Ryan knows that America is stronger. And he’s committed to restoring the unity and trust our country deserves.”

Although presidents are not required by law to release their tax returns, every major presidential nominee since the 1970s has done so. The only exception is Gerald Ford, who opted to publish a summary instead. Trump’s refusal makes him the first major-party presidential nominee since the 1970s to refuse to release his tax returns, and many Democrats are attacking the decision as a failure to be transparent.

Ryan released his tax returns from the years 2009 to 2018. His most recent return reveals that he and his wife Andrea had an adjusted gross income of $220,754 — most of which came from Ryan’s congressional salary and his wife’s income as an elementary school teacher.

How much does @TimRyan pay in taxes? @SethARichardson went through a decade of tax returns the Democratic presidential candidate released Monday and found @RepTimRyan paid a lower tax rate as a result of the Republican tax bill he voted against: https://t.co/Ze2RJryvpe

— Sabrina Eaton (@sabrinaeaton) April 29, 2019

The 2018 tax year is the first under Trump’s tax-cut law, which was opposed by every congressional Democrat. Ryan and his wife appear to have benefited from this law, as their adjusted gross income in 2018 was nearly $2,000 more than the year prior. The Ryans also seem to have benefited from the GOP tax law’s expansion of the child tax credit, which they claimed in 2018 after failing to be eligible for it in 2017. The expansion increased the income level cap for the benefit from $110,000 for a married couple to $400,000.

As The Inquisitr reported, nearly 20 blue states are introducing legislation to require presidential and vice presidential candidates to provide their individual tax returns to enter the running for either a presidential or general election. And in another move to get Trump’s tax returns earlier this month, Democratic lawmakers in New York attempted to let the state’s tax commissioner release state tax returns to Congress on request.

But California Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, a Democrat, vetoed a similar bill in 2017 because he believes it could lead to increased requirements in the future.

“Today we require tax returns, but what would be next? Five years of health records? A certified birth certificate? High school report cards? And will these requirements vary depending on which political party is in power?”