US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that he will not comply with a congressional subpoena to turn over President Donald Trump's federal tax returns in six years, likely to trigger a court battle with the Congress.

In a letter sent to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, Mnuchin on Friday said that the request "lacks a legitimate legislative purpose" and that he would not authorize the release of Trump's personal and business tax returns to the Congress, Xinhua news agency reported.

Tax transparency has been in the spotlight after Trump rejected a decades-old tradition that Presidents and White House hopefuls would make their tax returns public.

Democrats have claimed that Trump's business dealings present a host of potential conflicts of interest that they can't understand without his tax information.

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