6 years of Trump tax documents released by House Ways and Means Committee

The Democratic-controlled House Ways and Means Committee on Friday publicly released documents related to former President Donald Trump's tax returns covering the six years from 2015 to 2020.

The move comes after committee members voted 24-16 last week to release the documents after sensitive information -- like bank account numbers and Social Security numbers -- had been redacted.

Trump has long fought to keep his tax records private, breaking precedent with previous presidents who made such documents public.

Trump released a statement Friday pushing back on the House committee for making the records public while also claiming they "show how proudly successful" he has been.

"The Democrats should have never done it, the Supreme Court should have never approved it, and it's going to lead to horrible things for so many people," Trump said. "The great USA divide will now grow far worse. The Radical Left Democrats have weaponized everything, but remember, that is a dangerous two-way street!"

The thousands of pages of tax records released Friday revealed some new information as well as confirmed past reporting about Trump's personal and business finances.

The records confirm previous reporting that Trump held a number of foreign bank accounts -- including while in office -- and appeared to have lied about at least one of them. According to the returns, Trump reported having a bank account in China in 2015, 2016 and 2017 -- despite having claimed in 2020 that the account was closed before he ran for president. "I closed it before I even ran for president, let alone became president," Trump said during one debate against Joe Biden in October 2020.

According to the returns, Trump also reported having income from or paying taxes to over a dozen foreign countries, including the United Kingdom, Georgia, Qatar, China, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump and his wife, Melania, also reported charitable donations that slowly decreased over the years. During his first year as president, the two reported making $1.9 million in charitable gifts. In 2018 and 2019, they donated roughly half a million dollars each year, and in 2020, they reported no charitable giving.

Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., told reporters last Tuesday that the committee found there was no ongoing audit of Trump's tax returns during his presidency until the committee requested them, despite an IRS requirement that tax returns filed by a sitting president or vice president are subject to audit.

Neal said the audit only began in 2019 after he requested the returns and said the audits of the requested returns were never completed.

"The tax forms were really never audited and only my sending a letter at one point prompted a rearview mirror response," Neal said.

The committee had requested six years' worth of Trump's returns from the Treasury Department as part of what it said was an investigation into IRS audit practices of presidents and vice presidents.

Trump has accused the committee of seeking his taxes under false pretenses, saying the probe is just a politically motivated fishing expedition. But the committee said the documents were critical for drafting "legislation on equitable tax administration, including legislation on the President's tax compliance."

According to a summary released last week by the committee, Trump and his wife together reported $31.7 million in losses and reported $641,931 in net taxes during the first year of Trump's presidential campaign, in 2015.

During the 2016 presidential election year, the two again reported losing $32.4 million in adjusted gross income and paid just $750 in taxes, according to the committee. During Trump's first year in office, the couple reported losing $12.9 million and again paid $750 in taxes.

In 2018, their adjusted gross income went up, with them bringing in $24.3 million, and they reported paying $999,456 in taxes. In 2019, the two reported making $4.4 million and paid $133,445 in taxes.

In 2020, they reported losing $4.8 million and Trump paid $0 in taxes.

Melissa Wiley, tax expert at Caplin & Drysdale, told ABC News that based on the volume of his net operating losses, the way he structured his businesses is not unusual in the real estate industry.

The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, has said Democrats made a major mistake in a "rush to target" Trump by releasing his tax returns.

"Ways and Means Democrats are unleashing a dangerous new political weapon that reaches far beyond President Trump, and jeopardizes the privacy of every American," Brady said in a statement.