You are correct. Tax records are not public records. However congress has the authority under 26 U.S. Code § 6103 to gain access to tax return records and to make them public at their own discretion. You should read the article in the post by George K. Yin here.
Originally Posted by txdot-guy
I took a look at your link 26 U.S. Code 6103 and indeed the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee can gain access to tax returns. However, if they identify the specific taxpayer, they're only supposed to be examined by the committee in "closed excecutive session." I don't see where the Chairman or Committee has the right to make the tax returns public at their own discretion, but if you say that's correct, it's probably correct.
But is this constitutional, in this instance? The purpose of the request can only be to make the president's tax returns public and/or obtain information to go on a fishing expedition to find ammunition for political ends or to prosecute Trump. I'm not a lawyer but suspect that after this winds its way through the courts, the Ways and Means Committee won't get the tax returns. And in any event, being a civil libertarian, I don't believe it's any of their business requesting tax returns of citizens for political and most other purposes.
I wonder if the Democrats have thought this through. For example, the President appears to have the same power to obtain tax records as the Ways and Means Committee. How about he obtains the tax returns of Democratic politicians and Democratic Party campaign contributors and then posts them on the White House web site?
This has the potential to go the way of the filibuster. First the Democrats end it in the Senate for all federal judges except Supreme Court. Then the republicans expand it to the Supreme Court. Next thing you know, one party or the other will end it all together and another check and balance on the system will go away. The issue with the tax returns is arguably worse, as it's an attack on a fundamental right we all should have.