IRS Delays New Rules on Nonprofit Politicking and Plans Revamp

The Internal Revenue Service said Thursday that it will revise a planned overhaul of rules defining permissible political activity by nonprofit groups that drew a record number of public comments and criticism from both conservative and liberal groups, The New York Times reports.

The move postpones public hearings on the plan, which were set to take place this summer. “Given the diversity of views expressed and the volume of substantive input, we have concluded that it would be more efficient and useful to hold a public hearing after we publish the revised proposed regulation,” IRS spokesman Bruce Friedland said.

The tax agency received more than 150,000 comments on the proposal, which aimed to curb direct campaign activity by nonprofits, such as funding TV ad blitzes, but also affected nonpartisan activities like voter-registration drives. The plan was promulgated in the wake of allegations last year that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups.

IRS officials did not set a timetable for issuing revamped rules. Its commissioner, John Koskinen, said in April that a rewrite would not be completed until next year.