IRS Responds To CEA
On October 1st, CEA President Rhonda Johnson sent a letter signed by Association officers and numerous faculty representatives to IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff. In the letter, President Johnson alleged that there was a “clear pattern of political campaign coordination” between the campaign of defeated Republican Mayoral Candidate Bill Todd and the Buckeye Institute.
The Buckeye Institute is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization; no entities that fall under this classification may participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.
The Internal Revenue Service acknowledged the receipt of the Association’s letter in a reply on November 29th, 2007. In that reply, Manager of Exempt Organizations Steven Grodnitzky wrote in part:
“Whenever we receive information about an organization that raises questions about its continued exempt status or compliance with the tax laws, we forward the information to our Dallas office to determine if it warrants an examination or other action.
The Internal Revenue Code includes taxpayer privacy provisions enacted by the Congress to protect the privacy of tax returns and tax return information of all taxpayers. Therefore, I cannot comment on what action, if any, we may take regarding the information you provided.”