IRS Apologizes To Conservative Groups
The Internal Revenue Service apologized to conservative groups for targeting them inappropriately. Around the time of the 2012 election, the IRS flagged many conservative organizations to verify their tax status to see if they were an exempt organization.
Initially, it was thought that only groups with “patriot” or “tea party” in their names were targeted, but many other conservative groups were targeted by the IRS. When the conservative organizations filed for tax-exempt status, they were singled out for additional reviews.
The attack was blamed on workers in an IRS office in Cincinnati, but now officials say the fault may be at a higher office.
During the 2012 presidential election, conservative groups began to complain about being harassed about their tax exempt status. The IRS asked them several questions about their tax filing status, which delayed their tax exempt status.
The head of the IRS division in charge of assigning tax exempt status, Lois Lerner, claims that what happened was inappropriate. She says there was a large number of organizations filing for tax exempt status after a hallmark 2010 Supreme Court decision. The court decision allowed labor unions and corporations to raise and spend high amount of money, and they could register as a tax exempt if they were not political organizations.
No one knows if any White House officials knew about the IRS targeting conservative groups. It also is not clear if the Treasury Department knew what was happening.
The White House is calling for a formal investigation. Those found at fault will be disciplined as needed. Lerner claims that she did not inform the White House what was happening.
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