CEI Joins Coalition Urging Efforts to Prevent IRS Abuse
Dear Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell,
On behalf of millions of taxpayers across America, we hereby urge you to support efforts preventing future Internal Revenue Service (IRS) abuse and protecting First Amendment freedoms of speech and association by eliminating the Schedule B form for 501(c) organizations that contain sensitive identifiable information on contributors to those 501(c) organizations.
Last year, the House of Representatives passed this important legislation in the form of H.R. 5053, the “Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act,” sponsored by Representative Peter Roskam (R – Illinois). Senator Tim Scott (R – South Carolina) introduced S. 3057 under the same title in the Senate.
As acknowledged by the IRS itself, Schedule B information is inapplicable to the legally permissible handling of 501(c) organization tax filings. Eliminating Schedule B will not only make tax compliance easier, but also help limit the ability of the IRS and others, including state officials with access to the information, to chill free speech and civic participation among the public.
As you are well aware, First Amendment free speech and association rights have come under assault in recent years, with the IRS at the center of the misbehavior. In multiple high-profile confirmed cases, the IRS has leaked sensitive, private Schedule B information that it had no right or business making public.
As only one example, the agency agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) after an IRS official provided NOM’s Schedule B to the adversarial organization Human Rights Campaign, which proceeded to publish it. Revelations of leaked information, in addition to instances in which the IRS targeted organizations on the basis of perceived ideology, policy positions and names to deny or delay approval of nonprofit legal status, demonstrate that the threat to freedoms of speech, association and petitioning of government are all too real.
Congress must therefore take this opportunity as tax reform begins to strengthen First Amendment protections and prevent future IRS abuse, given the agency’s established record of negligent oversight and outright abuse of power. The protections we urge you to support would address those important goals, and constitute a victory for private citizens and organizations across the political spectrum.
For their part, IRS officials have gone on record in support of eliminating the Schedule B form requirement for some 501(c) classifications. In December 2015, for example, IRS Director of Exempt Organizations Tamara Ripperda addressed the possibility of eliminating the Schedule B:
The IRS is considering eliminating Schedule B of the Form 990, which asks for the names and addresses of an exempt organization’s contributors and for certain information about contributions received. Tax analysts reported that, at a program sponsored by the Urban Institute, Tammy Ripperda (Director of Exempt Organizations at the IRS) questioned whether the IRS should ask for the names and addresses of contributors, given that this information is not made public, and whether there is a need for the information from a federal tax law enforcement standpoint.
It is therefore clear that the Schedule B form requirement is unnecessary, and only perpetuates the possibility of abuse by IRS officials or outside wrongdoers, including state officials with access to the information. Accordingly, we urge all Members of Congress to support and enact legislation to finally eliminate the Schedule B form requirement for 501(c) groups.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Mazzella
President
Center for Individual Freedom
Lisa B. Nelson
CEO
ALEC Action
Phil Kerpen
President
American Commitment
Steve Pociask
President
American Consumer Institute
Center for Citizen Research
Dan Schneider
Executive Director
American Conservative Union
Sean Noble
President
American Encore
Mark J. Fitzgibbons
President of Corporate Affairs
American Target Advertising, Inc.
Chrissy Harbin
Vice President of External Affairs
Americans for Prosperity
Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform
Norman Singleton
President
Campaign for Liberty
John Charles
President & CEO
Cascade Policy Institute
Andrew F. Quinlan
President
Center for Freedom and Prosperity
Olivia Grady
Senior Fellow
Center for Worker Freedom
Chuck Muth
President
Citizen Outreach
Twila Brase RN, PHN
President and Co-founder
Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom
Michael Bowen
CEO
Coalition for a Strong America
Kent Lassman
President and CEO Competitive Enterprise Institute
Dan Caldwell
Executive Director
Concerned Veterans for America
Matthew Kandrach
President
Consumer Action for a Strong Economy
Tom Schatz
President
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Katie McAuliffe
Executive Director
Digital Liberty
Ed Martin, President
Rebekah Gantner, Executive Director
Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense Fund
Gary Marx
Former Executive Director
Faith and Freedom Coalition
Nathan Nascimento
Executive Vice President Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce
Adam Brandon, President
FreedomWorks Inc. and
FreedomWorks Foundation
George Landrith
President
Frontiers of Freedom
Christopher L. Carmouche Executive Director GrassTopsUSA
Mario Lopez
President
Hispanic Leadership Fund
Carrie L. Lukas
President
Independent Women’s Forum
Heather R. Higgins
President and CEO Independent Women’s Voice
Andrew Langer
President
Institute for Liberty
Kory Swanson
President & CEO
John Locke Foundation
Dave Trabert
President
Kansas Policy Institute
Seton Motley
President
Less Government
Cleta Mitchell, Esq.
Attorney for Nonprofit Organizations
Gerrye Johnston
Founder/CEO
Women for Democracy in America, Inc.
Chris W. Cox
Executive Director
National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action
Pete Sepp
President
National Taxpayers Union
John A. Tsarpalas
President
Nevada Policy Research Institute
Ron Pearson
President
Pearson & Pipkin
Lorenzo Montanari
Executive Director
Property Rights Alliance
James L. Martin
Founder/Chairman
60 Plus Association
Karen Kerrigan
President & CEO
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
Tracie Sharp
President & CEO
State Policy Network
David Williams
President
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Judson Phillips
President
Tea Party Nation
Jenny Beth Martin
Co-Founder
Tea Party Patriots
Robert Alt
President & CEO
The Buckeye Institute
Charles Sauer
Founder and President
The Market Institute
Adam Meyerson
President
The Philanthropy Roundtable
Eli Lehrer
President
The R Street Institute
Carol Platt Liebau
President, Yankee Institute for Public Policy
Ron Robinson
President
Young America’s Foundation