IRS ADMITS TO TARGETING CONSERVATIVE GROUPS DURING 2012 ELECTION, APOLOGIZES

[kcjenkins]

The Internal Revenue Service “inappropriately flagged” conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday.

Organizations were singled out because they included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups.

In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

“That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That’s not how we go about selecting cases for further review,” Lerner said at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association.

“The IRS would like to apologize for that,” she added.

Ohio Liberty Council Corp. President Tom Zawistokowski, for example, posted a letter on the group’s website detailing their extraordinary experiences with the IRS. Zawistokowski writes:

My own Portage County TEA Party has been

waiting for over a year just to get a response from the IRS

so we can file our 2010 tax return! In the attached PDF I share with you, the “Additional Information Requested” of the Ohio Liberty Council from our June 30th, 2010 application which we just received on January 30, 2012.

Yes, they took a year and a half to respond to our application and they are giving us two weeks to respond back. As you will see, this is no simple request.

Here’s what the IRS demanded of the group:

A hard copy printout of the website – A PDF file emailed to the IRS will not suffice (and this is the high-tech Administration)

List all Social Media outlets being used (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and include hard copy printouts of every posting

A narrative description of every activity of your organization since June 30, 2010 (filing date) – And they do not want a mere description of the event, but full details – including; who conducted it, their qualifications, who was allowed to take part in the activities and how they were selected, was there a fee? (how much)

The IRS also wants to know about the members of the group and their roles and more, asking specifically for the “name, address, and corporate federal ID of all organizations that are members of our organization”

[...]

Public events are also under scrutiny with the IRS demanding to know the time, location and content schedule of each event.

Copies of any and all handouts must be included.

Names and credentials of all instructors and copies of any workshop materials used.

All speakers must be identified and copies of every speech must be included.

By March, several Republican senators and The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) were starting to ask questions about the IRS’ treatment of Tea Party groups.

“This appears to be a coordinated attempt to intimidate Tea Party organizations by demanding information that is outside the scope of legitimate inquiry and violates the First Amendment,” said ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow in a statement, adding that the IRS asked questions that violate groups’ association rights.

“These organizations have followed the law and applied for tax exempt status for their activities as Americans have done for decades,” the statement notes.

Later, 12 GOP senators sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Schulman questioning the nature of the relationship between the IRS and Tea Party groups.

“It is critical that the public have confidence that federal tax compliance efforts are pursued in a fair, even-handed, and transparent manner – without regard to politics of any kind,” wrote the Senators, referring specifically to the Kentucky 9/12 Project’s claim of IRS intimidation.

“It is imperative that organizations applying for tax-exempt status are able to rely on a consistent and foreseeable review structure from the IRS.

“Any significant changes to the IRS review process should be implemented only after appropriate notice and opportunity for comment from the public and affected parties,” the letter adds.

The letter was spearheaded by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, joined by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), John Cornyn (Texas), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), John Thune (R-S.D.), and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

.More than a year later, Lerner’s comments show that the harassed conservative grassroots groups — and their defenders — were actually on to something

[Catherine]

Surprise, surprise -- NOT.

[Guest Taxed]

IRS should not have targeted solely based on political leanings of an organization. They were wrong!

This does bring up an important issue. Do we still need to allow non-profit status to organizations that are politically affiliated?

Should the requirement be further narrowed to limit it to true religious, charitable activities?

[kcjenkins]

An investigation by the Government Accountability Institute found that IRS audits for tax-exempt organizations have skyrocketed 79% under President Barack Obama.

One Tea Party group, Tea Party Patriots, rejected the IRS apology. In a press release Friday afternoon, the group called for a direct apology from President Barack Obama, and for a congressional investigation:

“The IRS has demonstrated the most disturbing, illegal and outrageous abuse of government power,” said Jenny Beth Martin, National Coordinator for Tea Party Patriots. “This deliberate targeting and harassment of tea party groups reaches a new low in illegal government activity and overreach. It is suspicious that the activity of these ‘low-level workers’ was unknown to IRS leadership at the time it occurred. President Obama must also apologize for his administration ignoring repeated complaints by these broad grassroots organizations of harassment by the IRS in 2012, and make concrete and transparent steps today to ensure this never happens again. We reject a simple apology that does nothing to alleviate the danger of this happening again. Only immediate and public actions on the part of the IRS and the president will suffice.

“We demand the immediate resignation of all complicit in this activity and insist Congress investigate.”

In April 2012, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) published an op-ed at Breitbart News calling for such an inquiry, noting that state governments had once used similar tactics against civil rights organizations.

[kcjenkins]

IRS should not have targeted solely based on political leanings of an organization. They were wrong!

This does bring up an important issue. Do we still need to allow non-profit status to organizations that are politically affiliated?

Should the requirement be further narrowed to limit it to true religious, charitable activities?

You are right, this sort of thing is very wrong, no matter what the 'leaning' of the organization. As long as the organization is following the rules, which for political groups means 'educational' activities, I think they should be allowed the status.