Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed legislation that seeks to limit the Internal Revenue Service from ever again being used as a partisan political tool, a practice that the Obama Administration has used to a degree never before experienced in American politics.
The weaponization of the IRS, which came to light in 2013, took two major forms. First, attempts to form tax exempt organizations by groups opposed to Mr. Obama’s agenda were road-blocked. Between 2009 and 2012, only a single conservative oriented organization was granted tax exempt status.
Lois Lerner, who served as the director of the Exempt Organization Unit of the IRS, was the central figure in the scandal. Lerner is an unindicted serial abuser of political rights who used her positions both in the Federal Election Commission and later the Internal Revenue Service to illicitly employ the machinery and assets of the federal government against those with differing views. An equally unscrupulous Justice Department allowed her to avoid criminal prosecution.
The second form consists of attempts to force tax exempt organizations to disclose donor lists. This information would allow the White House to use federal agencies to intimidate those that oppose it.
The legislation, which must still be approved by the Senate, is HR5053, (and sent to the White House, where approval is, at best, questionable) the “Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act.” It was introduced by Rep. Peter J. Roskam (R-Illinois.) The measure would amend the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from requiring a tax-exempt organization to include in annual returns the name, address, or other identifying information of any contributor. The bill includes exceptions for: (1) required disclosures regarding prohibited tax shelter transactions; and (2) contributions by the organization’s officers, directors, or five highest compensated employees (including compensation paid by related organizations).U
Under current law, tax-exempt groups and organizations don’t have to reveal their donors to the public, but they do have to reveal any donors giving more than $5,000 to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Under H5053, those groups would no longer even have to reveal their donors to the IRS. Without the list, it would be difficult for the IRS to find opponents of the Obama Administration to intimidate.
The legislation, introduced on April 26, passed the House Ways and Means Committee on a 25–13 party line vote on April 28. It has progressed in extremely rapid fashion, a response to the anger still felt as a result of the IRS’s misdeeds.
The Legislations’ supporters stress that the bill is in keeping with the First Amendment guarantee of free speech, which includes anonymous speech.
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“Passage of this bill by the House is an important step in opposing political intimidation from the IRS. This powerful and corrupt tax agency should not be in a position to leak donor names to try to chill free speech. The Senate should take up this legislation immediately to help protect a healthy public policy discourse and rein in the IRS.”
The IRS continues to abuse its power. A U.S. Government Accountability Office examination of the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) section of the agency found that IRS practices increase the risk that the audit program’s mission of fair and equitable application of the tax laws will not be achieved…Program objectives and key term of fairness are not clearly defined…[and] SB/SE does not always require selection decisions and rationales to be documented.” This means that businesses owned by individuals opposing the President can still be effectively targeted.
Rep. Roskam has proposed seven reforms to end IRS abuse:
- Force the IRS to Implement the Taxpayer Bill of Rights;
2. Prevent the IRS from Targeting Donors to Non-Profits;
3. Prohibit IRS Employees from Using their Personal Email Accounts
4. Stop IRS Abuse of Taxpayer Privacy Protections
5. Allow Social Welfare Groups to Self-Declare their Tax-Exempt Status
6. Permit Organizations to Appeal Denied Requests for Tax-Exempt Status
7. Fire Employees Found Guilty of Targeting Americans for Political Purposes.