The IRS came out today and said that while they can’t discuss someone’s tax returns, an audit by the IRS does not prevent someone from making public their tax returns:

WASHINGTON EXAMINER – Donald Trump claims he can’t release his tax returns until he’s done being audited by the IRS. But the federal agency on Friday said that’s not true. “Federal privacy rules prohibit the IRS from discussing individual tax matters. Nothing prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information,” a spokesperson for the IRS said in a statement.







So he can release his taxes if he chooses, but he won’t.

Perhaps this sheds some light on it:

THE HILL – A former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent tells Bloomberg it’s “very unusual” that the tax returns of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump have been audited for 12 years. Alan Olsen, who is now the managing partner of a California accounting firm called Greenstein Rogoff Olsen & Co., said the IRS typically spaces out audits when no problems are found. “If the IRS examines your tax return and finds no issues they will not audit your return again for two years,” Olsen told Bloomberg. “If returns are properly prepared, the IRS typically goes away.”

At Thursday’s debate, Trump suggested that he hasn’t released his tax returns yet because he is being audited. “For many years, I’ve been audited every year. Twelve years or something like that,” he said.

Maybe there is a bombshell in there and Trump doesn’t want you to know? It sounds plausible at this point.