It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday!
The IRS has become more aggressive during this election year about enforcing the prohibition against politicking by tax exempt organizations. To date, the IRS has made inquiries into charitable organizations who have supported or opposed candidates including Obama, Romney and Huckabee.
Is this good policy – or is the IRS too harsh? Today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is:
Should charitable organizations (and thus, tax exempt) be prohibited from politicking? Should some measure of involvement in political campaigns be allowed?
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The IRS is serious about the rules which prohibit non-profit organizations, including churches, from supporting candidates or political parties.
Just a few week after the IRS mailed a lengthy letter to First Baptist Church of Buena Park pastor Wiley S. Drake advising that he was being investigated for his 2007 support of presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, Obama’s denomination, United Church of Christ, has announced that it had been contacted by the IRS. The IRS is investigating UCC with respect to a speech that Senator Obama made at the UCC national meeting in 2007.
The IRS has notified the UCC that “reasonable belief exists” that the circumstances surrounding the speech violated the rules. Specifically, the IRS is concerned about articles posted on the church’s web site about the speech and the fact that Obama volunteers were stationed “outside the center to promote his campaign.” You can read the letter in its entirety here downloadable as a pdf.
The church claims that it consulted with lawyers before the event to ensure compliance with the rules. Additionally, the crowd was advised beforehand by Edith Guffey, administrator of the 2007 UCC General Synod, that the speech would not be “campaign-related” and that no campaign materials or other overt signs of support related to the political campaign would be allowed. The church also noted that Obama was asked to speak at the event before he announced his candidacy for President, and that the invitation was related to Obama’s involvement in his church and not his candidacy.
But does that make it alright?
Much of the criticism from the speech is related to Obama’s remarks about the misuse of faith in America. He specifically referenced the Christian right, traditionally the GOP voter base, in his speech.
The IRS has not commented on the investigation since it is ongoing. But it will be interesting to see what the result will be since this is an investigation of an entire denomination – comprised of 1.2 million churchgoers – as opposed to a single church, which is more traditional.
What do you think? Is this on par with Drake’s email? Worse?
You can read the entire transcript of Obama’s speech after the jump if you’re interested.
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