How do you solve a problem like a tea party group lawsuit? The IRS may have just found the answer: give the group tax-exempt status. In the wake of the Treasury Inspector General report that called out the IRS for using discriminatory labels to sort through exemption applications, such as the term “tea party,” more …
Posts Categorized: News
IRS Catches Up on Exemption Application Processing
Has your organization been waiting a long time for its IRS exemption? If so, you may be hearing back soon. Last week Matthew Weir, director for the IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division, reported that this year the unit has closed 117,000 exemption applications, a 121% increase from last year. Weir pointed out that everyone …
Ex-Charity Head Faces Allegations of $3.8M Embezzlement
Russell Brace, the former head of United Mid-Coast Charities Inc, a social services organization located in Maine, is facing allegations in a civil lawsuit of embezzling $3.8 million from the organization. The organization alleges that over 13 years Brace deposited millions of dollars in donations intended for the charity into bank accounts he controlled. The …
Detroit Museum Defends Executive Salaries
During a year in which the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum (DIA) campaigned for a property-tax increase to help with its shaky finances, it also awarded double-digit pay hikes to its top two executive staff. This is not sitting well in the suburban counties where voters approved the tax increase, which will result in $23 …
Donations to Ebola Fight Trickling In
Have you donated to efforts working to halt the Ebola epidemic? If not, you’re not alone. The Washington Postreports that charitable giving to such efforts has been far less than that for other major disasters. For example, almost all of the funding received by the American Red Cross to date for its Ebola efforts has …
Ongoing Debate Over Political Pulpit Preaching
Political campaign intervention by 501(c)(3) organizations is absolutely prohibited. Yet earlier this month, nearly 1,500 preachers nationwide banned together for the election-season ritual of political pulpit preaching that has been taking place since 2008. Alliance Defending Freedom is a 501(c)(3) conservative group that “advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith” …