March 11, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
The I.R.S. has ruled that a charity should lose its tax-exempt status for its improper involvement in politics and because it had served the “private interest” of its president.
The organization, which was not identified by the I.R.S., routinely distributed information on public-policy issues and conducted research.
The revenue service said that the charity went too far when it broadcast a radio commentary. In the spot, which came within a few months of the first scheduled primary for President of the United States, the charity’s president noted that a U.S. Senator had entered the race for President and said that the candidate had a “failed” political and economic ideology.
“Comments on the views of a Presidential candidate which name the candidate, mention his or her candidacy for the Presidency, and explicitly favor or oppose the candidate’s views violate the proscription against political campaign intervention” in federal regulations, the revenue service said.
The I.R.S. also concluded that the charity was wrong to have railed against a government office that, the charity said, had engaged in “political persecution.” The reason: The government office had long before investigated the person who became the charity’s president. The president thus stood to improperly benefit from the charity’s attack on the office, the I.R.S. said (Technical Advice Memorandum 19907021).
