IRS Warns Nonprofits at ABA Meeting: FEC Is Not Safe Harbor

May 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

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

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Court Denies Injunction for Ads in Maine

May 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From BNA; A three-judge federal district court in Washington, D.C., denied a bid by a nonprofit corporation in Maine May 9 seeking to block the Federal Election Commission from enforcing restrictions on funding of political advertising under the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (Christian Civic League Of Maine Inc. v. FEC, D. D.C., No. 06-614, 5/9/06).

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Senators Send Letter Asking for Movement on GSE Reform

May 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

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:

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US Judge Rules Charities Cannot Be Compelled to Speak

May 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

From the AP: A U.S. policy that forces groups fighting AIDS overseas to denounce prostitution in order to receive federal funding violates free speech rights, a judge ruled Tuesday. The Supreme Court "has repeatedly found that speech, or an agreement not to speak, cannot be compelled or coerced as a condition of participation in a government program," said U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero.

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Budget Back on House Floor Tomorrow!

May 10, 2006 by Adam Hughes*

House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) announced today he wants to bring the budget resolution back to the House floor tomorrow (Thursday) and believes he now can secure enough votes to pass it. Boehner pulled the budget from the floor in March because squabbles within the Republican Party threatened to defeat the bill.

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It's Not Only Cream That Rises to the Top

May 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

BNA's Daily Report for Executives is reporting that Don Arbuckle, acting administrator of OIRA, is leaving that post June 2 to teach at the University of Texas. His replacement as acting administrator: John Morrall. Learn more about Morrall's handiwork here:
  • Anti-Regulatory Studies Found Deceptive
  • Lisa Heinzerling, "Regulatory Costs of Mythic Proportions," 107 Yale L.J. 1981 (1997-98).
  • Cost-benefit analysis: still so very wrong

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Congressional Negotiators Reach Deal on Tax Bill

May 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

GOP negotiators for the House and Senate reached a deal yesterday on the nearly $70 billion tax reconciliation measure. The bill extends Bush's deep tax cuts by extending the 15 percent rate on capital gains and dividends, and also includes a one-year patch protecting 15 million Americans from paying the alternative minimum tax. $67 billion of the $69 billion bill will go toward one of those two priorities.

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New FAQ's Posted on 990

May 10, 2006 by Guest Blogger

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.

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Tax Reconciliation Vote May Take Place Soon

May 9, 2006 by Guest Blogger

Both the Senate and House are expected to vote on the $70 billion tax reconciliation bill this week, which both extends capital gains and dividends tax rates for two more years, and also provides protection for 15 million families from paying the alternative minimum tax. The tax cuts within the bill, particularly the capital gains and dividends rate extension, would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest in society. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has estimated that H.R. 4297 would give households with incomes over $1 million an average tax cut of $42,000.

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Hidden Debt Limit Increase in House Budget Blueprint

May 9, 2006 by Matthew Madia

House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has indicated that if he has the votes he will hold a vote on the House budget bill potentially as early as friday. Interestingly, this $2.7 billion budget plan includes language in it, as reported in today's Washington Post, that would bump up the federal debt ceiling yet again, to almost $10 trillion.

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