IRS Commissioner for Tax-Exempt Groups to Retire

The Internal Revenue Service said Thursday that Joseph H. Grant, acting commissioner of the tax exempt and government entities division, will step down in June, The Washington Post and The New York Times write.

Mr. Grant, who has been with the IRS since 2005, oversees the office at the center of the controversy over the agency’s heightened scrutiny of Tea Party and other right-wing organizations applying for 501(c)(4) nonprofit status.

Also on Thursday, President Obama named Daniel I. Werfel, the controller of the Office of Management and Budget, as acting IRS commissioner. He replaces Steven T. Miller, who was fired Wednesday over the tax agency’s extra scrutiny of conservative groups.

The New York Times also reports that the IRS, after approving few applications from conservative groups in 2010 and 2011, granted tax exemptions to dozens in a few months after a Republican congressman prodded the agency on the issue last May. Approval of liberal organizations was relatively steady over the same period.

Social-welfare entities—501(c)(4) groups—are allowed to engage in some political work without revealing their donors and have become increasingly active in campaigns. Political-finance watchdog groups are hoping congressional hearings, set to begin Friday on the IRS scandal, will include discussion of how organizations use charity status to engage in campaigns while shielding contributors, Bloomberg writes.

See more Chronicle of Philanthropy coverage of the scandal.