Obama drops IRS regulation to require non-profits to gather donor Social Security numbers

Jan. 7, 2016, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement responding to the withdrawal by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of a regulation that would have required non-profit organizations to record to the Social Security numbers of donors:

“We are relieved that the IRS has withdrawn the excessive regulation that would have required non-profit groups to record the Social Security numbers of donors and submit them to the agency, creating glaring security and privacy issues in violation of their First Amendment rights. This is the second time the IRS has ham-handedly tried to increase their capacity to target and harass conservative non-profits in the last three years. The last time it was a regulation severely restricting the political activity of 501(c)(4) organizations, that similarly had to be withdrawn. Hopefully this latest dropping of a politically motivated regulation signals an end to Obama’s weaponization of the IRS.”

Attachments:

Comment on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Substantiation Requirement for Certain Contributions, Americans for Limited Government, Dec. 15, 2015 at https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ALG_IRS_Comment_12.15.15.pdf

Comment on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Substantiation Requirement for Certain Contributions, Americans for Limited Government Foundation, Dec. 14, 2015 at https://getliberty.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ALGF-Comment-to-IRS-Re-NPRM-on-Donor-Substantiation_12.14.15.pdf

Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 106 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts including ALG President Rick Manning.

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