Thorndike: Why We Should Care About a Presidential Candidate's Tax Returns

Joseph J. Thorndike (Contributing Editor, Tax Analysts) has published Private Returns, Public Rewards: The Politics of Tax Records on the Tax History Project web site:

Should we care [about the tax returns of Presidential candidates]?  Well, yes.  And not just for the voyeuristic thrill that tax returns provide (or voyeuristic creep-out: recall candidate Bill Clinton's itemized deduction for donating used underwear to the Salvation Army -- some good deeds are best left unadvertised). Voters should care about a candidate's tax returns because they provide a valuable window on his or her integrity. ... [A] candidate's tax returns can still be important, even if they don't include a smoking gun. Public returns can reveal points of inconsistency between a candidate's public rhetoric and his or her private finances. Which is no small thing, especially when a candidate makes a point of targeting tax avoidance.

The Tax History Project has added Franklin D. Roosevelt's tax returns from 1913-1937.