IRS unfairly targeted Minn. tea party organization, boardmember says
A Minnesota tea party organization says it was caught-up in the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups.
IRS officials acknowledge tax forms from tea party movement groups were singled out for extra scrutiny. The acting commissioner of the IRS said the agency has put new procedures into effect that will "ensure the mistakes won't be repeated."
Cindy Maves, who was on the board of the Rochester Tea Party Patriots, said her group applied for what's called 501c-3 status in August 2010. The group was not approved until spring 2012, and then only as a 501c4 whose donors would not be allowed to write-off contributions.
Maves said her group repeatedly contacted the IRS but that its application seemed to be in limbo.
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"Ours was not getting any answers to it whatsoever. We weren't being accepted; we weren't being declined. We were just being on hold," Maves said.
The group's accountant could not determine why the application wasn't being approved when other pending tax-exempt applications the accountant had being approved, Maves said.
Maves says she is concerned about the implications of the federal government targeting any political group.
"My concern is not even as a conservative or a tea party person, but as a citizen. This can happen to any group if it can happen to us," Maves said.
After hearing news of the targeting President Barack Obama called it outrageous and said anyone involved needs to be held accountable.