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The Internal Revenue Service's Targeting of Conservative Tax-Exempt Applicants: Report of Findings for the 113th Congress
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Abstract
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform details the IRS's targeting of conservative tax-exempt applicants, a scandal that unfolded over 27 months, from February 2010 to May 2012. The targeting involved subjecting conservative groups to additional scrutiny and delay, while applications from liberal-oriented groups received less scrutiny. Senior IRS officials covered up the misconduct and misled Congress about it. The Administration used the targeting as a pretext to support regulations limiting political speech by conservative non-profits. Additionally, mismanagement within the IRS and lack of accountability from the Obama Administration exacerbated the situation. Lois Lerner's refusal to testify and the IRS's obstruction of the investigation further hindered efforts to uncover the truth.
Date
2014-12-23
Document Type
House Majority Staff Report
Serial Number
Document Length
226 pages
Congress
113
Relation
DOI
Keywords
Staff Reports, House, Republican
PAP Major Code
1: Macroeconomics
PAP Minor Code
107: Taxation, Tax Policy, and Broad Tax Reform
Related Hearings
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "The IRS's Systematic Delay and Scrutiny of Tea Party Applications," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-51, (2013, July 18)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, hearing on "The Internal Revenue Service's Exempt Organizations Division Post-TIGTA Audit," 113th Cong., (2013, September 18)
• Senate Committee on Finance, hearing on "A Review of Criteria Used by the IRS to Identify 501(c)(4) Applications for Greater Scrutiny," 113th Cong., S.Hrg. 113-232, (2013, May 21)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, hearing on "Internal Revenue Service Operations and the 2012 Tax Return Filing Season," 112th Cong., H.Hrg. 112-OS10, (2012, March 22, 2012)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, hearing on "Public Charity Organizational Issues, Unrelated Business Income Tax, and the Revised Form 990," 112th Cong., H.Hrg. 112-OS14, (2012, July 25)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, hearing on "Internal Revenue Service Targeting Conservative Groups," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-FC07, (2013, May 17)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, hearing on "Oversight of Tax-Exempt Orgs," 113th Cong., (2013)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, hearing on "Recent Developments in the Committee's Investigation into the Internal Revenue Service's Use of Inappropriate Criteria to Process Applications of Tax-Exempt Organizations," 113th Cong., (2014)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "IRS: Enforcing ObamaCare's New Rules and Taxes," 112th Cong., H.Hrg. 112-187, (2012, August 2)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "The IRS: Targeting Americans for their Political Beliefs," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-33, (2013, May 22)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "The IRS: Targeting Americans for their Political Beliefs," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-99, (2013, March 5)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "Examining the IRS Response to the Targeting Scandal," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-114, (2014, March 26)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, hearing on "An Update on the IRS Response to Its Targeting Scandal," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-133, (2014, July 23)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "IRS Obstruction: Lois Lerner's Missing Emails," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-129, (2014, June 23)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "IRS Obstruction: Lois Lerner's Missing Emails, Part II," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-127, (2014, June 24)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, hearing on "The Administration's Proposed Restrictions on Political Speech: Doubling Down on IRS Targeting," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-93, (2014, February 27)
• House Committee on the Judiciary, hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-32, (2013, June 13)
• House Committee on the Judiciary, hearing on "Federal Bureau of Investigation," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-77, (2013, June 11)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "IRS Abuses: Ensuring that Targeting Never Happens Again," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-135, (2014, July 30)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, hearing on "Examining the Justice Department's Response to the IRS Targeting Scandal," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-160, (2014, July 17)
• House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, hearing on "IRS Oversight Hearing," 113th Cong., (2013, June 3)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "Collected and Wasted: The IRS Spending Culture and Conference Abuses," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-79, (2013, June 6)
• Senate Committee on Finance, hearing on "Nomination of John Andrew Koskinen," 113th Cong., S.Hrg. 113-390, (2013, December 10 and 11)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "Federal Election Commission Enforcement Actions: Foreign Campaign Contributions and Other FECA Violations," 105th Cong., H.Hrg. 105-118, (1998, March 31)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, hearing on "The Internal Revenue Service's Exempt Organizations Division Post-TIGTA Audit," 113th Cong., (2013, September 18)
• Senate Committee on Finance, hearing on "A Review of Criteria Used by the IRS to Identify 501(c)(4) Applications for Greater Scrutiny," 113th Cong., S.Hrg. 113-232, (2013, May 21)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, hearing on "Internal Revenue Service Operations and the 2012 Tax Return Filing Season," 112th Cong., H.Hrg. 112-OS10, (2012, March 22, 2012)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, hearing on "Public Charity Organizational Issues, Unrelated Business Income Tax, and the Revised Form 990," 112th Cong., H.Hrg. 112-OS14, (2012, July 25)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, hearing on "Internal Revenue Service Targeting Conservative Groups," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-FC07, (2013, May 17)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, hearing on "Oversight of Tax-Exempt Orgs," 113th Cong., (2013)
• House Committee on Ways and Means, hearing on "Recent Developments in the Committee's Investigation into the Internal Revenue Service's Use of Inappropriate Criteria to Process Applications of Tax-Exempt Organizations," 113th Cong., (2014)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "IRS: Enforcing ObamaCare's New Rules and Taxes," 112th Cong., H.Hrg. 112-187, (2012, August 2)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "The IRS: Targeting Americans for their Political Beliefs," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-33, (2013, May 22)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "The IRS: Targeting Americans for their Political Beliefs," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-99, (2013, March 5)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "Examining the IRS Response to the Targeting Scandal," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-114, (2014, March 26)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, hearing on "An Update on the IRS Response to Its Targeting Scandal," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-133, (2014, July 23)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "IRS Obstruction: Lois Lerner's Missing Emails," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-129, (2014, June 23)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "IRS Obstruction: Lois Lerner's Missing Emails, Part II," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-127, (2014, June 24)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, hearing on "The Administration's Proposed Restrictions on Political Speech: Doubling Down on IRS Targeting," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-93, (2014, February 27)
• House Committee on the Judiciary, hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-32, (2013, June 13)
• House Committee on the Judiciary, hearing on "Federal Bureau of Investigation," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-77, (2013, June 11)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "IRS Abuses: Ensuring that Targeting Never Happens Again," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-135, (2014, July 30)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs, hearing on "Examining the Justice Department's Response to the IRS Targeting Scandal," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-160, (2014, July 17)
• House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, hearing on "IRS Oversight Hearing," 113th Cong., (2013, June 3)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "Collected and Wasted: The IRS Spending Culture and Conference Abuses," 113th Cong., H.Hrg. 113-79, (2013, June 6)
• Senate Committee on Finance, hearing on "Nomination of John Andrew Koskinen," 113th Cong., S.Hrg. 113-390, (2013, December 10 and 11)
• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, hearing on "Federal Election Commission Enforcement Actions: Foreign Campaign Contributions and Other FECA Violations," 105th Cong., H.Hrg. 105-118, (1998, March 31)