Aloe Vera Health Benefits: Bill Aims to Stifle IRS Name Collecting

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Bill Aims to Stifle IRS Name Collecting

A federal bill seeks to curb the IRS’s recent abuses of free political speech. It needs our support. Action Alert!

In 2013, we told you about then newly proposed IRS rules that would say what we, as a 501©4 non-profit, are allowed to tell you and what we are not allowed to tell you. To give just one example, we would be forced to remove from our website sixty days before an election every single reference, past or current, to a candidate’s connection to any legislation whatsoever—giving incumbents a free pass to introduce legislation with almost no public scrutiny.

This means, for example, that Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) would be allowed to introduce an anti-supplement bill knowing that we could not link him to it in print. Any disgruntled politician, in fact, could easily ask the IRS to revoke the 501©4 status of groups who disagree with his or her politics! Incumbents will also be given a thirty- to sixty-day free pass to introduce legislation with limited public scrutiny.

These rules came about in response to a scandal earlier that year when the IRS was caught illegally discriminating against Tea Party groups applying for 501©4 nonprofit status. In the wake of the scandal, the IRS decided to eliminate illegal censorship of political dissent—not by reforming itself, but by legalizing its political censorship.

A new federal bill, HR 5053, will help to curb the IRS’s continuing abuse of its vast powers. It would prohibit the IRS from collecting the identity of donors who contribute to these organizations, thus diminishing its ability to target nonprofits.

Currently, the IRS requires nonprofits to submit a Schedule B form that lists the names and addresses of donors. This can have a chilling effect on donors who realize that their gift to an organization whom the agency does not like could actually trigger an audit of the donor’s personal return.

HR 5053 was approved by the House of Representatives last month, and now awaits action in the Senate. Let’s make sure that when the Senate returns after their summer recess, they see an inbox full of messages from concerned citizens asking them to protect free speech!

Action Alert! Write to your senators and urge them to support HR 5053. Please send your message immediately.