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In January 2016, Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump told NBC's Meet the Press that he was preparing a "big", "beautiful" tax return to make public before the November election. However Trump has yet to disclose his taxes, and in May he was quoted saying that such documents would likely never be released, as there is "nothing to learn from them". So, is there any merit to this? Why are presidential candidates expected to release their tax returns?
2016年1月，共和党总统候选人唐纳德·特朗普在美国全国广播公司的《与媒体见面》节目上表示，他正在准备一份“宏大”且“出色”的纳税申报单，并在11月的大选之前公开。不过，特朗普尚未披露他的税款，今年5月，有人引用他的话说，这类文件很可能永远不会公布，因为“从这些文件中无法得知任何信息”。那么，这有什么好处呢？为什么总统候选人要公布纳税申报单？
Well, a federal income tax return is, in many ways, a snapshot of a person's socioeconomic profile. The document shows the owner's income, charitable donations, business ventures and, of course, how much money they've paid in taxes. Tax returns can also reveal offshore holdings or foreign bank accounts, which can be used for money laundering or tax evasion.
在很多方面，联邦所得税申报单都能反映出一个人的社会经济状况。这份文件显示了所有者的收入、慈善捐款、商业业务，当然还有他们支付了多少税款。纳税申报单还可以展示出可用于洗钱或逃税的境外持股或国外银行账户。
Every U.S. citizen, including candidates for public office, have the right to keep their tax returns private. However, presidential and vice presidential candidates are strongly encouraged, and even expected, to publicly disclose those documents.
每个美国公民，包括公职候选人，都有权对纳税申报单保密。不过，大众却强烈鼓励、甚至期待总统候选人和副总统候选人公开披露这些文件。
This idea can be traced back to President Richard Nixon, who, while running as the vice presidential candidate in 1952, called for his opponents to release their financial information to gain the full faith of the American people. Ironically, Nixon refused to release his own tax returns until 1973, more than 20 years later.
这一想法可以追溯到理查德·尼克松总统在1952年竞选副总统那时，他呼吁他的对手公布他们的财务信息，以获得美国人民的充分信任。讽刺的是，尼克松直到20多年后的1973年才公布自己的纳税申报单。
Nixon's impropriety during the infamous Watergate scandal led to the Ethics in Government Act in 1978. The act required all presidential candidates to publicly disclose their financial and employment history, but it did not include releasing federal tax returns.
尼克松在臭名昭著的水门事件中的不当行为后来促成了一项立法，那就是1978年的《政府道德法》。该法案要求所有总统候选人公开披露其财务和就业历史，但不包括公布联邦纳税申报单。
