Trusting The IRS, Waiting For Congress
I.R.S. Moves to Tax Gifts to Groups Active in Politics
By STEPHANIE STROM
Big donors like David H. Koch and George Soros could owe taxes on their millions of dollars in contributions to nonprofit advocacy groups that are playing an increasing role in American politics.
Invoking a provision that had rarely, if ever, been enforced, the Internal Revenue Service said it had sent letters to five donors, who were not identified, informing them that their contributions may be subject to gift taxes depending on whether the donations exceeded limits under the tax laws.
These advocacy groups have been drawing more scrutiny, from President Obama as well as others, as they have proliferated and funneled vast sums of money in support of campaigns and causes, without having to publicly disclose their donors.
Let's just pause to admire our watchdg press in action - we are being told that lefties like Soro have been caught in the same net as righties such as the Koch brothers, but in fact, the IRS has not identified the letter recipients and the Times can't get a confirmation or denial from anyone. So for all we really know, the IRS has chosen to crack down on righties only.
The timing of the agency?s moves, as the 2012 election cycle gets under way, is prompting some tax law and campaign finance experts to question whether the I.R.S. could be sending a signal in an effort to curtail big donations.
?There are a whole heck of a lot of people misusing (c)(4) groups as a means of getting around campaign finance regulations, and we lack a coherent system of laws to deal with that,? said Donald B. Tobin, a legal expert on campaign finance and tax laws at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University. ?Now here?s a stick, frankly, that says there are consequences for doing that.?
In a statement released Thursday, Michelle L. Eldridge, a spokeswoman for the I.R.S., said that the inquiries were initiated by agency employees, not White House or other Obama administration officials, ?as part of their increased efforts in the area of nonfiling of gift and estate tax returns.?
No politics here.
http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2011/05/trusting-the-irs-waiting-for-congress.html
