Tax Status of Other Politically Active Section 501(c)(4) Groups Challenged

Yesterday I did a post about a news article questioning the reported political activity of one prominent section 501(c)(4) organization, Americans for Prosperity.  Two groups that support campaign finance legislation have filed a complaint with the IRS challenging the section 501(c)(4) status of several other politically active groups, Crossroads GPS, Priorities USA (no website apparently, but see FactCheck.org’s recent description), American Action Network, and Americans Elect.  in their complaint, Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center also challenge the position that a section 501(c)(4) organization can spend up to 49 percent of its total expenditures on political campaign activity and still qualify for that status, arguing instead that the correct legal standard is whether such activity is more than insubstantial based on all of the facts and circumstances.

LHM