The "Prescott Tea Party, LLC" was the very first conservative group to be flagged for extra scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") in what has become a continuing controversy, according to a report released yesterday by the Republican majority in the House Oversight Committee.
The report concludes that the Democratic members of the committee have made misleading comments in attempting to portray both liberal and conservative applicants for tax-exempt status as receiving extra attention and having their applications denied. The Committee intends to vote to hold Lois Lerner, the former IRS official who has refused to testify, in contempt of Congress.
The Prescott Tea Party, LLC sought 501(c)(3) exempt status in November 2009. On March 8, 2010, it was pulled from the Exempt Organizations Division specialist to be transferred to the Exempt Organizations Technical - a group of IRS tax law specialists. On May 26, 2010, the Prescott Tea Party's file was closed because it had failed to respond to both a letter and a phone call seeking further information.
The Prescott Tea Party, LLC was embroiled in a battle between founders during that time, which resulted in one of the founders pleading guilty to theft of contributions during the fall of 2009.
We welcome your comments about this post. Or, if you have something unrelated on your mind, please e-mail to info-at-arizonaspolitics-dot-com or call 602-799-7025. Thanks.
1 comment:
So, an organization set up as an "LLC" filed for tax exempt status under 501(c)3 and it got flagged? Color me not surprised. Let alone with the fact that this organization clearly was going to be active politically, I think the IRS was more than justified in flagging them.
Post a Comment