Democrats and Republicans on a Senate investigative panel reviewing the so-called tea party scandal agree that the IRS used improper methods to scrutinize the exemption applications of social welfare organizations. But the agreement stops there. The Democrat-led Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations found that there was “no evidence of IRS political bias” in the agency’s actions. …
Posts Categorized: IRS
New IRS Phone and Email Scams
The IRS is warning of phone and email scams targeting individuals and businesses. First, scammers have been making calls claiming to be from the IRS. They may say that a taxpayer owes money or is entitled to a large refund. Even worse, some of the scammers are threatening arrest or revocation of the taxpayer’s driver’s …
IRS Makes Progress on Exemption Application Backlog
At the beginning of 2014, 15% of the exemption applications still on backlog with the IRS were more than one year old. The IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division (TE/GE) announced this week that the division has since closed 97% of those cases. According to TE/GE’s deputy commissioner, Donna Hansberry, the division is “on pace …
Does Your Nonprofit Pay Its Payroll Taxes?
According to a recently released report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), although most exempt organizations pay their federal taxes, more than 64,200 of the nearly 1.7 million organizations recognized as exempt (or 3.8%) had nearly $875 million of federal tax debt as of June, 2012. This included payroll taxes, unrelated business …
Can Donors Trust 1023-EZ?
Donors rely on 501(c)(3) to indicate that an organization is carrying out charitable activities. But since the IRS released the streamlined exemption application (Form 1023-EZ), should they still do so? The National Taxpayer Advocate (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers who are having trouble resolving problems with the IRS. On …
IRS Crippled by Tea Party Scandal
In the wake of the tea party scandal, you might think that Congress would want to bolster up the IRS’s exempt organizations division to ensure proper staffing and oversight. But you would be wrong. The House recently cut the IRS tax enforcement division budget by $1.2 billion (a 25% cut). The cut is a reflection …