Beto O’Rourke, IRS And The Constitution
States tend to have the Attorney General’s office regulate not-for-profits not their revenue departments. For some reason at the federal level it falls to the IRS, which is actually a bad choice particularly in its current beleaguered states, but politicians and activists of all sorts are quick to call the IRS to step in to effectively shut down groups by revoking their exemptions for matters that have nothing to do with taxation.
It’s silly. As we saw with the interminable scandal, the IRS is terrible at it and it detracts from its very important core function of collecting revenue.
It’s also bipartisan. Ben Carson reflexively called for the revocation of the exemption of an Islamic group that was critical when he was running for the Republican nomination in 2015.
Just stop it. Have the IRS bring in the money. That’s a big enough job for them.
Grassley To IRS On NRA – Fight Crime Someplace Else
As a raw junior accountant doing line-ups (Copying the account number and names on thirteen column worksheets and preparing depreciation and prepaid insurance schedules to make life easier “in the field”), I would observe a lofty senior packing his audit bag.
If Herb was nearby, the routine was always the same. “Where are you going?” Herb would ask. The senior would respond with a client name. Herb would invariably say “Bring back a check”.
And if the IRS is going to help with the deficit that is what the Commissioner should be thinking when he sends out his dwindling supply of auditors. Will they be bringing back a check? (Technically they bring back assessments and it is the collection people who bring back the checks, but that is neither here nor there.)
Investigating the NRA will not bring in any revenue to speak of, so leave it to the FBI or whoever should be looking into the matter.
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Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.