Paul L. Caron
Dean





Monday, December 8, 2014

The IRS Scandal, Day 578

IRS Logo 2Roll Call:  Fresh Round of Controversies for IRS:

The IRS faces growing pressure from critics on both sides of the aisle to come to grips with the role that tax-exempt “dark money” groups play in elections.

The challenge for the beleaguered IRS, which is bracing for a fresh round of controversies early in 2015, is that Republicans and Democrats regard both the problem and the solution in starkly opposing terms.

To Republicans, the problem is that the IRS has policed tax-exempt groups, particularly those run by conservative activists, too aggressively. Republicans on Capitol Hill are poised to redouble their investigation into the agency’s self-admitted targeting of tea party groups and others seeking tax-exempt status.

The GOP probe has been newly energized by a Treasury inspector general’s recent unearthing of thousands of emails previously declared “lost” from former senior IRS official Lois Lerner’s account. Also fueling the investigation is the GOP’s Senate takeover, and a conservative group’s recent lawsuit alleging the agency improperly shared taxpayer information with the White House.

To Democrats, the problem is that undisclosed political spending, popularly dubbed “dark money,” continues to soar. According to the latest estimate from the Center for Responsive Politics, political spending by outside groups that fail to publicly disclose some or all of their donors jumped to at least $219 million in this election cycle, up from $160.8 million in the 2010 midterms.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/12/the-irs.html

IRS News, IRS Scandal, Tax | Permalink

Comments

If Democrats don’t care about money in politics, then what explains IRC § 527? Sec. 527 was added to the Code by the Revenue Act of 1978, at which time the President, Senate, and House were all Democratic.

Posted by: Publius Novus | Dec 8, 2014 11:48:18 AM

Here so long is exactly right. Democrats don't care about money in politics, they care about other parties money in politics.

Posted by: wodun | Dec 8, 2014 10:07:32 AM

Although it seems that for Democrats it's only a problem when those groups are supporting Republicans. I'd be more impressed if they were actually opposed to political spending by outside groups.

Posted by: Heresolong | Dec 8, 2014 8:56:47 AM