rssPotential IRS Investigation into ‘Social Welfare’ Groups Has Some Corporate Donors Nervous
Wednesday, October 06, 2010 at 8:51 am
- 19 Comments
Yesterday, when the Campaign Legal Center* filed a complaint with the IRS against the 501(c)(4) group Crossroads GPS, alleging that it was abusing its tax-exempt status because its “primary purpose” was election related, GPS spokesman Jonathan Collegio dismissed the complaint as politically motivated:
“This is a baseless complaint, filed by a partisan group that fundraises off of the baseless complaints they file,” Collegio said. “Crossroads GPS carefully and cautiously follows all laws governing 501(c)(4) organizations. Meanwhile, liberal groups spent more than $400 million in undisclosed campaign money in 2008 alone, with nary a peep of protest from liberal lobbyist Fred Wertheimer.”
Today, Mike Allen reports that some potential corporate donors aren’t as sanguine about the potential investigation:
One of the city’s best connected Republicans e-mailed us: “We are telling all of our clients, do not give a cent unless you accept the possibility that one day your contribution will be well be public. … i do not think you will see many blue chip companies, this is more for the wealthy.”
Because donations are not disclosed, the question of how much corporations are donating to groups like Crossroads GPS remains a guessing game. Indeed, one of the biggest draws of 501(c)s is the anonymity they can grant donors, which implies that corporations, especially those with a large direct consumer base, would choose them as their preferred outlet of giving. That a potential IRS investigation would have a chilling effect on such donations seems unlikely — lots of requests are filed with the IRS that simply go unanswered and uninvestigated — but certainly possible.
For what it’s worth, Collegio also emailed Allen with the subject line, “interestingly,” to say that “Despite the left’s coordinated … attacks, we received more new ‘likes’ on facebook today than on any day in our history.”
*UPDATE: Democracy 21, not the Campaign Legal Center, wrote the language of the document. Both groups attached their name to the complaint.
Follow Jesse Zwick on Twitter19 Comments
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Comment posted October 6, 2010 @ 8:46 pm
Good- I hope they are sweating bullets. By allowing all this corporate money into elections we are seeing a buy of friendly candidates- friendly to the rich and powerful corporations that bought them. We must have a new campaign reform the will stand up to the Supreme Court. Bush managed to get bought judges into the court and now we are screwed until we can get the legislation that is not declared unconstitutional. At the very least, legislation that mandates all contributions be publicly posted. Stop them from hiding behind non-profits that pay no taxes and are buying ads that are blatantly political.
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