IRS Tangled in Church-State Divide
October 6, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Internal Revenue Service has gotten in the middle of numerous disputes between liberal and conservative religious groups involved in this year’s political campaigns, reports The Associated Press.
Some tax experts say they fear that the IRS might be subject to political manipulation, the wire service said.
“The entanglement of church and state vis-a-vis the tax laws is deeply out of control,” Ed McCaffery, dean of the University of Southern California School of Law told the wire service.
Steve Miller, commissioner of the IRS’s tax-exempt and government entities division, said such concerns were groundless. He noted that half of all complaints filed are quickly thrown out because they are found to be without merit. The agency reports it saw a rise in complaints about politicking in 2004.
