Tax

All eyes are on the IRS and its regulation of 501(c)(4) organizations these days, with the agency’s mishandling of exemption applications, the release of the Treasury Inspector General’s report, and the lengthy hearings held by the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the House Oversight…
Continue Reading Group Sues Treasury and IRS to Amend 501(c)(4) Regulations

Late yesterday afternoon, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released its eagerly awaited report on its investigation into the IRS’s use of inappropriate criteria for screening tax-exempt applications (“IG Report”). The Inspector General initiated its investigation after members of Congress raised concerns during the 2012 election cycle that the…
Continue Reading Treasury Inspector General to IRS: Yes, That Was Wrong

This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism held a hearing on “Current Issues in Campaign Finance Law Enforcement.”  The focus of the hearing was what the Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service are doing to enforce campaign finance law violations post-Citizens United with respect…
Continue Reading Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Campaign Finance Enforcement Hearing

The New York Attorney General proposed today a broad plan requiring nonprofit organizations involved in New York state elections to disclose the nonprofit’s donors and electoral advocacy activity.  This proposed rule comes on the heels of a new rule in New York requiring organizations that lobby to disclose certain donors. …
Continue Reading New Push for Donor Disclosure in New York

Like the men and women in red suits ringing bells on street corners, press reports are springing up everywhere alleging that numerous 501(c)(4) social welfare groups—including groups on both sides of the aisle—have violated their tax-exempt status by spending too much time and money on political campaign activities during the…
Continue Reading ‘Tis the Season!

In a floor statement yesterday, Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, blasted the IRS for allowing 501(c)(4) organizations to “exploit” the tax code and spend millions on political campaign activity.  In connection with his statement, the…
Continue Reading IRS to Senator Levin: IRS Conducting Over 70 Audits of 501(c)(4) Organizations

In a letter published today, Representative David Camp, Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, and Senator Orrin Hatch, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, have told New York’s Attorney General that they are “particularly concerned by reports that indicate your office has not followed the federally…
Continue Reading Two Prominent Republican Members of Congress Challenge New York AG’s Inquiries

The Congressional Research Service has issued a report analyzing whether the federal gift tax applies to contributions made to 501(c)(4) organizations.  Many years ago, the IRS took the position in rulings that the gift tax applied.  However, the IRS had not enforced the tax for over 20 years until 2011,…
Continue Reading Congressional Research Service Concludes that the Federal Gift Tax Should Apply To Contributions to 501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organizations