Should Tax Exempt Organizations Be Politically Motivated?

A group of Republican senators are urging the IRS to maintain the anonymity of political donors. This comes as the IRS has taken away the tax exempt status of several organizations, forcing them to make their donors public knowledge.

The IRS has stated that tax exempt, or 501(c) organizations, should not have a primary focus on politics. If the IRS finds that an organization is primarily politically motivated it will revoke its tax exempt status. Some legal analysts say the standard for determining whether or not an organization is primarily political is if they spend more than half of their total budget for political causes.

Many watchdog groups are claiming that organizations are abusing their tax exempt status in order to keep the donors of millions of dollars in campaign contributions private. The fear is that if donors have to reveal themselves they will be deterred from contributing.

Recently, the IRS revoked the tax exempt status of the organization Emerge. They train women to run for office in New Mexico. A spokesperson on behalf of the group stated that revocation “has not changed the scope of our mission or activity”.

If you or your organization face IRS tax problems, contact JG Tax Group today to asses and solve your situation.