162:, or "IRS" (America's federal agency for tax regulation, collection, and enforcement), fields complaints from the public that a nonprofit organization has participated in prohibited political activities. In 2006, the IRS stated that although most of the more than one million 501(c)(3) organizations were compliant, it had conducted 100 investigations in response to complaints from the 2004 election season, of which in 59 out of 82 closed cases it had found "some level" of prohibited activity. It characterized most as minor one-time violations, and issued the offending organizations written advisory letters. It considered three cases serious enough to propose the revocation of the organization's tax-exempt status. The IRS summarized the violations as follows:
48:
organizations are under varying requirements to refrain from election-related political activities, or may be taxed to the extent they engage in electoral politics, so the word affirms a legal requirement. In this context, "nonpartisan" means that the organization, by US tax law, is prohibited from supporting or opposing political candidates, parties, and in some cases other votes like propositions, directly or indirectly, but does not mean that the organization cannot take positions on political issues.
103:" drives, if done without bias that would favor one or more candidates over others, or that would oppose candidates. When making public political statements they are required to concentrate on the broader issues, and not make comparisons between candidates. Public forums and other activities are also subject to a number of rules, such as a requirement to invite all viable candidates. Public charities (but not private foundations) may conduct some
225:, the initiative to amend the California Constitution to permit only heterosexual marriages. The Church responded that it was individual members, not the church itself, that had donated money to the pro-Proposition 8 campaign, and that any lobbying it was doing on the subject was permissible because it was not "substantial" in proportion to the Church's overall finances.
130:, or local organizations with membership limited to a particular company, municipality, or neighborhood, and which devote their earnings to charity, education, or recreation. By contrast with 501(c)(3) organizations they may lobby for legislation and participate in political campaigns and elections, in which case they are not nonpartisan.
90:
by "directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office." They may not contribute to campaign funds or make public statements in support of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.
94:
However, such organizations may present public forums, publish voter education guides, and conduct certain other political activities that the
Internal Revenue Service classifies as "non-partisan". They may also conduct activities "intended to encourage people to participate" in elections, such as
136:
organizations are trade group, chambers of commerce, and other business organizations. They can be nonpartisan, but they may also engage in lobbying and other partisan political activities within certain limitations, provided that donations to these groups are not tax deductible to the extent the
47:
status because they refrain from engaging in certain political activities prohibited for them. The designation "nonpartisan" usually reflects a claim made by organizations about themselves, or by commentators, and not an official category per
American law. Rather, certain types of nonprofit
110:
Organizations that violate the IRS rules may have their tax-exempt status revoked or denied, and may face penalties. In addition, concealing or misreporting prohibited activities may, depending on the circumstances, be a crime on the part of the individuals or organizations involved.
253:. The IRS concluded that the sermon was in violation of the tax code but did not explain its conclusion, and took no action against the church. The church, in turn, accused the IRS of meddling in politics and asked for an apology.
205:
Churches have occasionally been accused of campaigning for candidates. In most cases the accusations were made against conservative
Christian churches for supporting conservative candidates. In the 2006 election season,
193:
Despite the relative infrequency of sanctions from the IRS, there have been a number of claims made publicly that nonpartisan organizations had engaged in prohibited partisan activities. Some of these include:
284:
over the power of the IRS to prohibit churches from endorsing candidates. In turn, others argue that allowing churches to support candidates would violate another provision of the First
Amendment, the
256:
Additionally, there are concerns that putting the IRS in the role of classifying certain speech as political or apolitical runs a risk of suppressing protected speech, which would violate the
202:, claiming the organization had engaged in improper partisan political activities as well as various forms of fraud. The claims were investigated, and no illegality or fraud was found.
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In 2009, in the wake of a scandal that emerged following the release of several "hidden camera" videotapes, Republican politicians called for an IRS investigation of the
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199:
399:
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17:
230:
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Occasionally, the IRS, or the party making accusations of partisanship, is itself accused of acting on the basis of a political agenda. The
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filed accusations against several churches in Kansas and
Minnesota, and other investigations were opened in California, Missouri and Ohio.
286:
289:, which is interpreted to prohibit the granting of tax-exempt status to political activities undertaken by religious institutions.
273:
166:
Distributing printed materials encouraging members to vote for a particular candidate (9 violations found out of 24 allegations)
642:
261:
268:, a conservative Christian organization, recruited 35 churches to conduct sermons urging their congregation to vote for
107:
activities to influence legislation, if the lobbying activity is not a "substantial part" of its overall activities.
222:
527:
455:
346:
IRS Publication 557 "Tax-Exempt Status For Your
Organization", Page 19, (Rev. June 2008), Cat. No 46573C.
403:
358:
334:
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146:
560:
159:
96:
359:"The Restriction of Political Campaign Intervention by Section 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Organizations"
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Giving preferential treatment to certain candidates at public functions (9 violations out of 11)
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578:
438:
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265:
32:
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234:
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8:
321:
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Religious sermons endorsing or opposing a candidate (12 violations out of 19 allegations)
383:"Legal Rules for Nonpartisan Voter Education, Outreach, and Participation by Nonprofits"
382:
540:
277:
87:
31:, in American politics, is a non-profit organization organized United States
660:
597:
495:
481:
322:"IRS Rules Allow Nonpartisan Voter Education and Participation Activity by Charities"
309:
119:
By contrast, certain other nonprofit organizations are not considered non-partisan:
172:
Endorsing or opposing a candidate via web content or links (7 violations out of 15)
140:
100:
143:, which are also tax-exempt, may advocate for political issues but not candidates.
175:
Distributing improper voter guides or candidate ratings (4 violations out of 14)
242:
127:
80:
513:"IRS Releases New Guidance and Results of Political Intervention Examinations"
674:
44:
126:
organizations, which are tax-exempt, are operated exclusively for promoting
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250:
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Among the prohibitions, 501(c)(3) organizations may not become involved in
178:
Posting campaign signs on organization's property (9 violations out of 12)
269:
627:
246:
214:
72:
643:"California church leaders question IRS investigation into war sermon"
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competition, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.
281:
133:
123:
76:
612:
238:
104:
60:
459:
628:"The LDS Church, Proposition 8, and the Federal Law of Charities"
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Cash contributions to political campaigns (5 violations out of 7)
68:
217:
activists called for the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of
59:
is a classification for organizations operated exclusively for
36:
149:
may campaign on behalf of candidates and are not tax exempt.
153:
335:
Exempt
Purposes - Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3)
561:"The Case Against All Saints: Has The IRS Gone Too Far?"
598:"Protests Over Gay-Marriage Ban Escalate in California"
496:"Lobbying Guidelines for AGI and its Member Societies"
456:"FAQ's - 501(c)(4) Status for Nonprofit Organizations"
579:"Watchdog Group Accuses Churches of Political Action"
479:
200:
Association of
Community Organizations for Reform Now
482:"Primer on Federal Tax Rules Pertaining to Lobbying"
208:
525:
610:
507:
505:
672:
528:"Republican Lawmakers Turn Up the Heat on ACORN"
576:
219:the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
681:Nonpartisan organizations in the United States
502:
188:
79:purposes, to foster national or international
558:
658:
640:
625:
554:
552:
498:. American Geological Institute. 2003-12-02.
241:sermon posing a hypothetical debate between
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572:
570:
99:, training programs, issue briefings, and "
137:donations are used for political purposes.
654:
652:
613:"How Getting Married Made Me An Activist"
549:
114:
567:
515:. Internal Revenue Service. 2006-02-24.
377:
375:
154:Investigations into partisan activities
14:
673:
661:"Pulpit politics: Pastors to defy IRS"
649:
402:. Irs.gov. 2009-05-11. Archived from
394:
392:
221:(LDS Church) over its involvement in
372:
400:"Political and Lobbying Activities"
274:United States presidential election
24:
18:Nonpartisanism in the United States
541:CRS report: ACORN didn't break law
526:Joshua Rhett Miller (2009-09-14).
389:
25:
692:
611:David J. Jefferson (2008-11-15).
634:
619:
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589:
534:
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484:. Copilevitz & Canter, LLC.
473:
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577:Stephanie Strom (2006-10-26).
480:MacKenzie Canter, III (2009).
431:
417:
351:
339:
328:
314:
299:
13:
1:
292:
71:, testing for public safety,
51:
663:. Christian Science Monitor.
458:. T-tlaw.com. Archived from
260:constitutional guarantee of
7:
659:Jane Lampman (2008-09-26).
645:. Associated Baptist Press.
641:Robert Marus (2007-09-28).
626:Chino Blanco (2009-05-08).
231:All Saints Episcopal Church
189:Allegations of partisanship
147:Political action committees
10:
697:
596:Anita Vogel (2008-11-07).
630:. Latter Day Main Street.
563:. First Amendment Center.
237:was investigated over an
39:) that qualifies certain
425:"Exemption Requirements"
223:California Proposition 8
160:Internal Revenue Service
41:non-profit organizations
29:nonpartisan organization
427:. Irs.gov. 2009-05-11.
280:, intending to make a
115:Partisan organizations
361:. Irs.gov. 2009-05-11
266:Alliance Defense Fund
33:Internal Revenue Code
348:, Retrieved 3/9/2009
287:Establishment Clause
235:Pasadena, California
559:Charles C. Haynes.
546:; December 23, 2009
443:§ 501(c)(4)(A)
88:political campaigns
278:civil disobedience
97:voter registration
262:freedom of speech
141:527 organizations
16:(Redirected from
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243:George W. Bush
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128:social welfare
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81:amateur sports
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462:on 2009-06-24
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310:§ 501(c)
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249:moderated by
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464:. Retrieved
460:the original
450:
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408:. Retrieved
404:the original
385:. NP Action.
363:. Retrieved
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324:. NP Action.
316:
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251:Jesus Christ
228:
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615:. Newsweek.
600:. Fox News.
530:. Fox News.
270:John McCain
77:educational
466:2009-05-28
410:2009-05-28
365:2009-05-28
293:References
247:John Kerry
215:gay rights
69:scientific
65:charitable
52:Background
45:tax-exempt
282:test case
134:501(c)(6)
124:501(c)(4)
61:religious
57:501(c)(3)
675:Category
544:Politico
239:anti-war
105:lobbying
73:literary
272:in the
27:A
441:
308:
37:501(c)
437:See
245:and
158:The
43:for
233:in
677::
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569:^
551:^
504:^
391:^
374:^
75:,
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585:.
469:.
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413:.
368:.
35:(
20:)
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