TaxProf Blog: Pomona College May Have Violated 501(c)(3) Tax Status To Fund Anti-Trump Student Protesters

TaxProf Blog reports on this possibility at http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/11/pomona-college-may-have-violated-501c3-tax-status-to-fund-anti-trump-student-protesters.html. 

For the University’s response to this allegation, see http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/11/pomona-president-denies-wrongdoing-as-irs-complaint-filed-against-college-for-funding-anti-trump-stu.html.

My initial take is since the rally in question happened after the election, the University has a good argument that at that point Mr. Trump was no longer a candidate but instead President elect and so the activities they funded were not political campaign intervention. I realize that Mr. Trump may not technically be President elect until the votes of the electors are officially counted by Congress, but despite some calls for the electors chosen by the voters to abandon him that is not a realistic possibility. So while one can certainly criticize the University for appearing to take sides with respect to the newly elected President, its reported activities almost certainly did not cross the legal line provided by Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).

Lloyd Mayer