Comer Opens Probe into IRS Enforcement of Political Lobbying Restrictions on Tax Exempt Entities

WASHINGTON—House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) is today opening an investigation into substantial political campaigning and lobbying by 501(c)(3) tax exempt entities and the ability of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to identify and enforce related violations of tax laws. In a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, Chairman Comer raises concerns that the IRS may be withholding enforcement efforts as they pertain to activist groups engaging in political lobbying and requests a staff-level briefing, documents, and communications related to 501(c)(3) tax exempt entities.

“Tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and implementing regulations requires that exempted entities are ‘operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational’ and related purposes. […] Despite these limitations on political and lobbying activities by 501(c)(3) designated entities, activist advocacy organizations, such as One Fair Wage, Inc., seem to view their charitable work as indistinguishable from their substantial lobbying pursuits,” wrote Chairman Comer.

Previous House Committee on Oversight and Committee investigations confirmed that the IRS wielded its power to systematically targeted conservative tax-exempt applicants for additional scrutiny, rather than enforcing regulations for all tax-exempt charities and organizations.

“Reports by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) note specific problems with the IRS’s capabilities to enforce regulations for charities and other tax-exempt organizations, including: a lack of responsiveness by the IRS to tax-exempt organizations and internal IRS resource allocation plans covering tax-exempt enforcement. […] We are concerned that IRS may now be engaged in withholding legitimate enforcement efforts as they pertain to activist groups hiding behind their non-profit statuses,” Chairman Comer continued.

Read the letter to IRS Commissioner Werfel here.