Tax-Exempt Organizations: Political Activity Restrictions and Disclosure Requirements
Source: Congressional Research Service (via OpenCRS)

Recently, significant attention has been paid to the political activities of taxexempt organizations. In particular, the activities of IRC ? 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, ? 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, ? 501(c)(5) labor unions, ? 501(c)(6) trade associations, and ? 527 political organizations have been scrutinized. This report examines the limitations that the Internal Revenue Code places on political activity, including lobbying and campaign intervention, by tax-exempt organizations. It focuses on the above organizations, but also discusses the restrictions on the other types of tax-exempt organizations. The report also looks at the administrative procedures recently unveiled by the IRS that provide for expedited review of possible tax laws violations by IRC ? 501(c)(3) organizations that conduct political activities. In addition, the report contains a summary of the information that tax-exempt organizations must report to the Internal Revenue Service about their political activities and whether the information must be made publicly available.

+ Full Report (PDF; 180 KB)

This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 9:02 pm and is filed under Congressional Research Service, Government and politics, Nonprofits, Taxation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.