As the upcoming US Presidential election gets closer, information on the IRS’s views on 501(c)(3) organizations and political activity seemed appropriate for this newsletter.
The Internal Revenue Service announced its Political Activities Compliance Initiative (PACI) once again will be in effect for the 2008 election season. The PACI program seeks to educate section 501(c)(3) organizations such as charities and churches about the federal law concerning political campaign activity and to enforce the law in this area.
By law, organizations exempt from tax under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) may not “participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.”
“We take seriously our obligation to ensure that tax-exempt organizations have the information they need to make the right decisions about political campaign activities,” said Steven T. Miller, Commissioner of IRS’ Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division. “The vast majority of organizations want to do the right thing, and as in past years, we will continue our efforts to make sure they have the information they need.”
The prohibition against political campaign activity has been in effect for more than half a century and bars certain tax-exempt organizations from intervening on behalf of or in opposition to political candidates. However, these organizations can engage in advocating for or against issues and, to a limited extent, ballot initiatives or other legislative activities.
The IRS is making extensive efforts to educate 501(c)(3) organizations, political parties and candidates. Letters are being sent to the national political party committees explaining the law’s prohibition regarding charities and churches. In March, a letter was published in the Federal Election Commission’s monthly newsletter, asking candidates to ensure that their contacts with charitable organizations do not inadvertently jeopardize the tax-exempt status of any charity. The IRS has issued a news release on the subject in every presidential election year since 1992.
“As in the past, we will continue to use existing procedures, including a committee of career civil servants, to determine which cases to pursue,” Lerner said. “We will focus on cases involving allegations of egregious violations.”
“By continuing to work closely with the tax-exempt community, we can provide guidance and education to help charities and churches comply with the law,” Lerner said. “We also must continue to monitor the actions of tax-exempt organizations involving political campaigns, in order to carry out our obligation to administer the tax law with congressional intent.”
Information gathered from the IRS article at the link below:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=181570,00.html
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