February 26, 1998 | Read Time: 1 minute
A U.S. district judge has upheld the Internal Revenue Service’s decision to deny charity status to an organization created to raise money for a private commission studying the tax code. The commission was headed by Jack Kemp, the former Republican Vice-Presidential candidate.
Judge Ricardo M. Urbina’s decision marked the latest round in the legal battles of the Fund for the Study of Economic Growth and Tax Reform. Judge Urbina said he agreed with the I.R.S. that some of the fund’s work was politically partisan rather than purely educational. The revenue service had concluded that the fund did not qualify as a charity because its primary purpose was to influence legislation in Congress.
The fund was created in 1995 as the fund-raising arm of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform. The commission issued a report last year that backed the idea of a federal flat tax on income.
William J. Lehrfeld, the fund’s lawyer, says the group will appeal the judge’s ruling. The fund deserved charity status because its work was non-partisan and designed to gather public comment, says Mr. Lehrfeld.
