Treasury And IRS To Crack Down On Super PACs Masquerading As Tax-Exempt Social Welfare Groups
The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued proposed guidelines on Tuesday that could force dark-money political groups like Crossroads GPSand the American Future Fund to spend less of their money on campaign advertising and other overt electioneering. If implemented, this guidance would clarify what actions by tax-exempt social welfare organizations are limited candidate-related political activity and what actions can count toward their principal purpose.
According to the Wall Street Journal, these rules would label campaign advertising, voter registration, get-out-the-vote efforts, and distribution of voter guides and campaign materials, as candidate-related political activity. None of that would be able to count as part of the groups tax-exempt purpose meaning only a minority of its work could fall into those categories. While 501(c)(4)s would still be free to engage in those activities, they couldnt be the main focus. This could mean groups accused of masquerading as (c)(4)s could have to find new ways to spend their money.
More here: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/11/26/2997701/treasury-irs-rules/
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