10/28/2004

IRS Reviewing the NAACP's Tax-Exempt Status

According to this article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Internal Revenue Service has begun reviewing the NAACP's tax-exempt status, citing concerns over a speech given by its chairman at its annual convention last July in Philadelphia.

IRS officials said they could not discuss the specifics of any case. But IRS commissioner Mark Everson issued a statement denying that the agency's interest in the NAACP was politically motivated.

"The IRS follows strict procedures involving the selection of tax-exempt organizations for audit and resolution of any complaints about such groups," Everson said.

"Career civil servants, not political appointees, make these decisions in a fair, impartial manner. Any suggestion that the IRS has tilted its audit activities for political purposes is repugnant and groundless."

Matt Drudge first noted this story.

DR