Julián Castro: Presidential candidates should be required to release tax returns

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, who is running for president, said at a CNN town hall Thursday that he believes presidential candidates should be required to release their tax returns. 

“I support making it a requirement by statute, Congress passing a law that requires people who are running for president to submit 10 years of their tax returns,” he said.

Castro added that he would release 10 years of his own tax returns “during the next few weeks.”

He slammed President Trump’s refusal to release his returns, saying Trump must have something to hide. 

“It is astonishing that this president still has not released his taxes,” Castro said. “It’s clear that he has something to hide, I don’t.”

Should the requirements to be President include releasing tax returns?

Julián Castro: “I don’t necessarily think that we need to do a constitutional amendment for it, but I support making it a requirement by statute.” https://t.co/g28vBmt4rd #CastroTownHall pic.twitter.com/YwsI9J6x5H

— CNN (@CNN) April 11, 2019

But Castro stopped short of saying that it should be a constitutional amendment.

Several other Democrats competing for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) have already released their returns. President Trump, meanwhile, has repeatedly refused to do so, insisting he is under audit. 

The IRS has said that an audit does not prevent someone from releasing their own tax information.