• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups[W:484,732]

Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Hatuey said:
Why do political advocacy groups get tax exempt status anyways? I thought politics and tax exempt weren't to be mixed?
Click to expand...

An organization allowed tax exempt status under 501(c)(3) absolutely can have a political purpose as long as none of their activity violates the provisions in 501(h). In a nutshell, as a 501(c)(3) you can have all the public events you want to as long as you aren't directly forking money over to candidates or providing benefits for a given candidate.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Lutherf said:
An organization allowed tax exempt status under 501(c)(3) absolutely can have a political purpose as long as none of their activity violates the provisions in 501(h). In a nutshell, as a 501(c)(3) you can have all the public events you want to as long as you aren't directly forking money over to candidates or providing benefits for a given candidate.
Click to expand...

What's the point of not allowing political advocacy then?
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

justabubba said:
were they looking because of their political lean or because of their propensity to file improperly
the first reason would be wrong while the second would be very appropriate
Click to expand...

From the article in the OP:
Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words “tea party” or “patriot” in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews.
Click to expand...

So yes based on the IRS they apparently were 'looking because of their political lean'

as a federal employee processing loans using tax payer monies, i was prohibited from reporting to the IRS those applicants whose financial statements data were different from that found on their federal tax returns. seemed like the wrong time to look the other way. ditto in this circumstance
Click to expand...

That's nice...:2wave:
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

rocket88 said:
IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 2012 election - The Washington Post



This actually bothers me more than Benghazi...[/QUOTE]

Really - no one died. The lame stream media has treated both issues the exact same way - with empowering
the leftist administration to have its way with no check or critique in anyway. But to say this bothers you less
then people dying that shouldn't have? The deaths in Benghazi are on the hands of terrorist, but our governments
response and the medias lack of attention to that response are appalling (not impeachable but appalling).
Click to expand...
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Hatuey said:
What's the point of not allowing political advocacy then?
Click to expand...

In this case the term "advocacy" is used in a legal sense instead of a literary sense. You can read up on it here - 26 USC § 501 - Exemption from tax on corporations, certain trusts, etc. | Title 26 - Internal Revenue Code | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute

It's pretty beefy as far as statutes go but it's one of the more easily comprehensible ones.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Hatuey said:
Lol, okay, time to put that child psychology course to the test....


Can I get you a glass of water? Or maybe a cracker to make you feel better about that all that emotional angst you are experiencing?
Click to expand...

Angst ?? Hell I'm a happy camper.

Save that water and crackers for a chaser to the anti-psychotic meds that just barely keep you out of a Red 72 Chevrolet Convertable heading towards the Circus-Circus hotel and casino.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Taylor said:
Is this supposed to make people feel better? It was just some low-level workers?

Knowing that some low-level worker can me through hell simply because he doesn't like my name has sort of the opposite effect.
Click to expand...

A low level worker set IRS policy, yeah I buy that.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Fenton said:
Angst ?? Hell I'm a happy camper.

Save that water and crackers for a chaser to the anti-psychotic meds that just barely keep you out of a Red 72 Chevrolet Convertable heading towards the Circus-Circus hotel and casino.
Click to expand...

Lol, what? I guess that child psychology class I took in class didn't work. You're still going on with stuff that has nothing to do with the thread.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

rocket88 said:
IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 2012 election - The Washington Post



This actually bothers me more than Benghazi...
Click to expand...

What do you expect with this progressive appointed government?

These progressives are fascists and when we elect them they appoint fellow and more extreme fascists who can get away with discrimination and blatant partisan tactics against their "enemies" and nothing can be done because these appointed fools were never democratically elected.

This is a perfect example of that...

Hell the leftists view the tea party as a "terrorist organization" and a "hate group" while OWS is considered a "peace movement" - that should tell you enough about what the fascist left thinks about the tea parties position.... Of course they only do this because the tea party threatens "big government" and the fascists want "big government."
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

CalGun said:
Really - no one died. The lame stream media has treated both issues the exact same way - with empowering
the leftist administration to have its way with no check or critique in anyway. But to say this bothers you less
then people dying that shouldn't have? The deaths in Benghazi are on the hands of terrorist, but our governments
response and the medias lack of attention to that response are appalling (not impeachable but appalling).
Click to expand...

This bothers me more than Benghazi because this points to abuse of power and using the power of the government to fill personal ends. That was the sort of thing that got Nixon in trouble and should be the sort of thing that we don't tolerate.

Benghazi's a question of troop levels and deployments. It's a question of inadequate security. It's unfortunate that some bad decisions were made, but everything's easy in retrospect.

As far as the media goes, this is being reported by WaPo. They're as mainstream and as liberal as it gets.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Heebie Jeebie said:
A low level worker set IRS policy, yeah I buy that.
Click to expand...

did the employee look at those entities because of their political leanings or because they were more prone to submission error?
would we expect the teabaggers to be as tax compliant as the average American?

what is the likelihood that an organization with 'tea party'/'patriot' in its name deserves more scrutiny for determining whether it is an illegitimate political entity
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

justabubba said:
did the employee look at those entities because of their political leanings or because they were more prone to submission error?
would we expect the teabaggers to be as tax compliant as the average American?

what is the likelihood that an organization with 'tea party'/'patriot' in its name deserves more scrutiny for determining whether it is an illegitimate political entity
Click to expand...

So the IRS is either profiling or discriminating... I thought progressives were against both those ideas?? Oh yeah they're not they embrace those ideas!
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Helix said:
i'd definitely like to see a more thorough explanation of this from the IRS. i'd also like to know why these groups are tax exempt.
Click to expand...

because they fit the legal requirements for such?

Why are these complaints always politically oriented and not focused on a tax code as a whole?
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Dr. Chuckles said:
because they fit the legal requirements for such?

Why are these complaints always politically oriented and not focused on a tax code as a whole?
Click to expand...

so they are basically registered as non-political entities, right? are they charities?

i'd also like to know if any similar entities on the left were also targeted. if i were the IRS, i'd watch all of them like a hawk, not just one side.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Helix said:
so they are basically registered as non-political entities, right? are they charities?
Click to expand...

You should read Luthor's posts on the matter

i'd also like to know if any similar entities on the left were also targeted. if i were the IRS, i'd watch all of them like a hawk, not just one side.
Click to expand...

Well, it's one of those odd things like the filibuster, people only seem to take issue with it when it's serving as a negative for their political interests. In fact, it's the type of thinking that fuels actions like the OP and is fundamentally undemocratic.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

calamity said:
As it
should
Click to expand...


Actually, rocket is still making up military scenario's in his head to justify the 4 dead Americans and the low life administration that is currently running from the truth.

Now the IRS is just more ammo for the Conservatives as the IRS tries to mitigate their bullying by saying " low level employees" are now responsible for changing IRS policy.

Its not low level, its typical Obama Chicago politics and his administration is now BUSTED.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Fenton said:
Actually, rocket is still making up military scenario's in his head to justify the 4 dead Americans and the low life administration that is currently running from the truth.

Now the IRS is just more ammo for the Conservatives as the IRS tries to mitigate their bullying by saying " low level employees" are now responsible for changing IRS policy.

Its not low level, its typical Obama Chicago politics and his administration is now BUSTED.
Click to expand...

You don't know that. You're reaching.

op said:
The IRS, though technically part of the Treasury Department, operates as an independent agency. The Treasury declined to comment.

Tea Party groups complained in 2012 that they were receiving dozens of questionnaires from the IRS with regard to their applications for nonprofit tax status, probing their political leanings and activities.

The question revolved around whether they were engaging in too much political activity to be properly classified as a tax-exempt social welfare organization under section 501(c)4 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Click to expand...
Knowing the Tea Party activists and who funds them, I suspect that they probably were pretty near the edge of that fine line. That the "special scrutiny" singled them out is improper, but it's not exactly malicious. It's just looking a little closer at the house across the street with smoke pouring out its windows.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups

[Lois Lerner, head of the division that oversees tax-exempt groups] said the "practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias". After her talk, she told The AP that no high level IRS officials knew about the practice. She did not say when they found out.

Are they for real? do they think we are that stupid to believe that BS?
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Fenton said:
Actually, rocket is still making up military scenario's in his head to justify the 4 dead Americans and the low life administration that is currently running from the truth.
Click to expand...

Do you have some kind of sexual fetish for Benghazi, or are you just incapable of staying on topic?

Its not low level, its typical Obama Chicago politics and his administration is now BUSTED.
Click to expand...

We don't know that. At least not yet. Let us know when that is uncovered.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

trfjr said:
IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups

[Lois Lerner, head of the division that oversees tax-exempt groups] said the "practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias". After her talk, she told The AP that no high level IRS officials knew about the practice. She did not say when they found out.

Are they for real? do they think we are that stupid to believe that BS?
Click to expand...

Well, as I said to Fenton, tell us when someone can document that it went higher up. So far, we don't know that. I'm not saying it doesn't, but it's not of any use to fling accusations.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Mr.Nick said:
So the IRS is either profiling or discriminating... I thought progressives were against both those ideas?? Oh yeah they're not they embrace those ideas!
Click to expand...

profiling is smart
marshaling resources where they can be most effective

ethnic/political/religious/racial/gender discrimination is to be avoided

now, share with us which one this IRS incident was, and how you come to know that answer
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

Last time I got audited the IRS gave me more money back, guess I am too stupid to do my own taxes. I used a Tax service until they came out with TurboTax. Getting audited aint that big a deal unless you are intentionally cheating. But yea, picking on people aint nice.
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

rocket88 said:
Well, as I said to Fenton, tell us when someone can document that it went higher up. So far, we don't know that. I'm not saying it doesn't, but it's not of any use to fling accusations.
Click to expand...

the targeting of conservative groups was not limited to one state so it had to have been a consorted effort from Washington
 
Re: IRS apologizes for inappropriately targeting conservative political groups in 201

trfjr said:
the targeting of conservative groups was not limited to one state so it had to have been a consorted effort from Washington
Click to expand...

Things like this are probably handled in regional offices. I don't know the inner workings of the IRS.

Again, maybe it will turn out to be something that goes higher up. As of now, we don't know that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom