Hello,
John and Doves,
It is
illuminating to note that the IRS is an arm of the Executive Branch of
the
United
States Government.
As
such, the Chief Executive of the USA is personally and ultimately
responsible
for
any and all actions of any and all IRS agents acting in their usual and
customary duties.
In the
Name of the Living and True God, Jesus, with whom we have to
do,
Mike
C.
Texas Sue (26 Nov
2010)
"IRS Targets Jewish
Supporters of Israel"
IRS Targets Jewish Supporters of Israel
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1110/IRS_to_Jewish_group_Does_your_organization_support_the_existence_of_the_land_of_Israel.html?showallPOLITICO
Ben Smith
IRS to Jewish group: 'Does
your organization support the existence of the land of
Israel?'
A Pennsylvania Jewish group that has claimed
the Internal Revenue Service is targeting pro-Israel groups introduced in
federal court today a letter from an IRS agent to another, unnamed
organization that tax experts said was likely outside the usual or appropriate
scope of an IRS inquiry.
"Does your
organization support the existence of the land of Israel?" IRS agent Tracy
Dornette wrote the organization, according to this week's court filing,
as part of its consideration of the organizations application for tax exempt
status. "Describe your organization's religious
belief system toward the land of Israel."
The document emerged
in the course of a lawsuit filed in August by Z Street, a hawkish group that
casts itself as the Zionist answer to the liberal J Street. Z Street claims
that a different IRS agent reviewing its application for tax exempt status
said the agency is "carefully scrutinizing organizations that are in any way
connected with Israel" and that "a special unit" is determining whether its
activities "contradict the Administration's public policies.'"
The IRS can deny tax exempt status to groups that work
against "established public policy," a precedent established in its
denial of a tax exemption to Bob Jones University over racial discrimination,
and Z Street is suggesting that the IRS has begun applying some such policy to
pro-Israel groups. The State Department has complained of tax exempt
contributions to groups that fund weapons and equipment for West Bank
settlers, which Z Street co-founder Lori Lowenthal Marcus said Z Street has
never come close to doing.
"Given that we have fallen within this net,
how big is the net?" she asked.
The agent's question was contained in
correspondence with "a Jewish religious organization" with no stated position
on Israel, Z Street says in its court filing. The group's tax adviser, Z
Street says, shared the correspondence with Z Street. Z Street does not know
the name of the group and may subpoena the tax adviser, who is no longer
cooperating with them, for more information, Marcus said.
Several
experts on non-profit tax law said the questions to the organization were
unusual, at best, though they were also skeptical of the claim that the IRS is
specifically targeting pro-Israel groups.
"The claims go far beyond
what should be the IRS's role," said Paul Caron a University of Cincinnati law
professor and the author of TaxProf Blog.
Ellen Aprill, a law professor
at Loyola University in Los Angeles said the second question was "appropriate"
in the context of an application seeking a tax exemption on religious
grounds.
"The first one is not the way I would want any of my agents to
do it," she said.
Former I.R.S. Commissioner Sheldon Cohen said he was
skeptical of Z Street's motives in its high-profile lawsuit, rather than
pursuing its concerns in tax court.
"They were hardly into the process
when they screamed rape nobody lifted the dress yet," he said, noting
that 501(c)3 groups can't advocate for political positions.
But he
called the specific questions "unusual."
"I've never seen that kind of
inquiry," he said.
And Ofer Lion, a California tax lawyer, said he
thought the question was probably the work of a misguided
agent.
"People who work in the field and have done a lot of these
applications have seen these bizarre questions shot back at them more than
once," he said.
Z Street maintains, however, that the questions are
more evidence of a broader policy targeting pro-Israel groups. The
organization claims that the agency is "improperly considering the political
viewpoint of applicants" and engaging in "clear viewpoint
discrimination."
The IRS has sought to dismiss Z Street's claim on
technical grounds. A spokesman said he couldn't immediately comment on the new
filing; in August, a spokesman said he couldn't comment on an ongoing
case