August 10, 2000 | Read Time: 1 minute
By GRANT WILLIAMS
Reversing its earlier position, the I.R.S has conceded in federal court that the Christian Coalition was qualified as a tax-exempt advocacy organization — for one year, in 1990 — and is refunding the group’s taxes for that period.
The move settled, at least for now, legal action by the Christian Coalition, which had charged that the tax agency’s decision to deny it tax-exempt status was improper, unconstitutional, and arbitrary because the service has granted exemption to “liberal” groups that engaged in similar kinds of activities.
The coalition claimed a major victory. “This is an important case that should send a strong message to the I.R.S. — the bullying and discriminatory tactics used against the Christian Coalition will not succeed,” said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, which represented the coalition in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This is the outcome we had been hoping for.”
However, Americans United for Separation of Church and State said that the Christian Coalition had won a “hollow victory” in part because the I.R.S. recognized the coalition’s exemption for just 12 months — the 1990 tax year — and is refunding only $169.26 in back taxes. That sum of money, said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United, “won’t pay for a tank of fuel for Pat Robertson’s jet.”
