Cathy Livingston,assistant chief counsel in IRS's Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division, warned organizations hoping to stay abreast of Internal Revenue Service guidelines on political intervention in campaign activity should not rely on Federal Election Commission rules as a safe harbor. "We only have jurisdiction under the Inernal Revenue Code," Livingston said May 5 at an American Bar Association Section of Taxation meeting. "There's nothing that Congress has ever said about being in compliance with the FEC law that means you can't be touched by the Internal Revenue Code." More at BNA

Late Tuesday, twenty Senators to Majority Leader Frist and Chairman Shelby sent a letter on GSE reform. The letter asks that the Senate Banking Committee-passed GSE reform bill, S. 190, be considered by the full Senate this year. The letter was initiated by Senators Hagel, Sununu and Dole. Here is a list of the signatories as they appear on the letter:

EO has posted new FAQ's for the Form 990 Information Return. The FAQ's are based on questions received in response to the changes to Form 990 for tax year 2005, from a telephone forum on Form 990 that the Service offered in March 2006, and questions submitted from interested taxpayers. The script for the Form 990 telephone forum is also posted.

House and Senate leaders are still working to secure a final agreement on the tax reconciliation bill (H.R. 4297). While leaders do plan to remove some business tax extender provisions from H.R. 4297 and move them as a separate package, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) have been unable to agree on the timing and contents of the “extenders” package.