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Internal Revenue Service Political Campaigns

The United States Internal Revenue Service is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury. The IRS is charged with collecting revenue and enforcing the Internal Revenue Code.  
Lathrop GPM

Understanding the Proposed IRS Settlement Regarding the Johnson Amendment and Churches’ Political Speech Rights

Lathrop GPM on

To settle a case challenging the Johnson Amendment, the IRS has proposed to allow at least two churches to endorse candidates from the pulpit. This proposal has received widespread attention, but many questions remain...more

Stinson LLP

IRS Permits Politics from the Pulpit

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In a joint motion filed on July 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated that religious organizations may speak about political campaigns and candidates to...more

Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak

IRS Enters into Consent Decree Limiting Application of Johnson Amendment; New Position Allows Churches to Endorse Candidates in...

On July 7, 2025, in National Religious Broadcasters, et al. v. Billy Long, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Services, et al., Docket no: 6:24-cv-00311-JCB (E.D. Texas) (“NRB”), the IRS entered into a consent decree in...more

McGlinchey Stafford

IRS Agrees That Political Speech Is Permitted in Houses of Worship

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The Internal Revenue Service has reached a settlement, subject to court approval, that would permit political speech in houses of worship. Background - Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code defines an organization...more

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

Churches Can Now Endorse Political Candidates Without Losing Tax-Exempt Status

On July 7, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) overturned  an over 70-year-old interpretation of the Internal Revenue Code via a federal court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which now...more

BakerHostetler

[Podcast] The Cloakroom with Peter Roskam: Featuring Congressman David Schweikert, R-AZ

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Former Congressman Peter Roskam, who leads BakerHostetler’s Federal Policy team, provides listeners with a front-row seat to the most important policy and political debates in Congress. In this episode of “The Cloakroom with...more

ArentFox Schiff

Staying on Course: Navigating Election Year Issues for Exempt Organizations

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With the 2024 election cycle underway, it is important for exempt organizations to understand and comply with relevant restrictions on political campaign activities to safeguard their tax-exempt status and avoid triggering...more

Lippes Mathias LLP

Understanding the Rules Surrounding Campaign Donations

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With the start of a new year come ample fundraising opportunities for upcoming elections. As a result, it is important to understand the rules around donating and becoming aware of certain contribution limits. If you plan to...more

Venable LLP

Time to Rock the Vote? How Institutions of Higher Education Should Prepare for Supercharged Midterm Elections

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It is no stretch to suggest that the upcoming midterm elections will be a hotbed of political activity across all spectrums. Each election cycle presents exciting opportunities for institutions of higher education (IHEs) and...more

Nossaman LLP

Compliance Notes - Vol. 2, Issue 6

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Welcome to Compliance Notes from Nossaman’s Government Relations & Regulation Group – a periodic digest of the headlines, statutory and regulatory changes and court cases involving campaign finance, lobbying compliance,...more

Gerald Nowotny - Law Office of Gerald R....

Lincoln Project Founders Have Tax Problems - Two of the people behind the anti-Trump PAC have six-figure debts with the IRS.

The Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump political action committee, has been making headlines for churning out viral videos that question the president’s fitness for office. The PAC, founded by a group of Republican political...more

Cozen O'Connor

The Clock Is Ticking on Estate and Gift Planning

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November’s election results could have a profound effect on the estate and gift tax laws. Among a number of significant issues are...more

Farrell Fritz, P.C.

Responding To The Democratic Party’s Tax Plans

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The Convention- The Democratic Party’s “virtual” convention last week seems to have gone pretty well. All the stars of the Party’s firmament were on hand and spoke in “virtually” one voice in their assessment of the...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

IRS Rules that PAC Sponsored by a For-Profit Subsidiary of a 501(c)(3) Health Care System Parent Violates Prohibition on Political...

Foley & Lardner LLP on

In a January 31, 2020 private letter ruling (PLR 202005020), the IRS ruled that where a Parent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization was providing administrative services to a for-profit Subsidiary, the Subsidiary’s creation and...more

Alston & Bird

Political Action Committees

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It isn’t just the Federal Election Commission political action committees (PACs) need to worry about. Our Federal Tax Group examines the tax pitfalls for tax-exempt organizations and one worrisome IRS ruling in particular....more

Proskauer - Not for Profit/Exempt...

New York State Codifies the Johnson Amendment

On October 23, 2019, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, signed legislation incorporating the federal Johnson Amendment into New York law. As previously described, the Johnson Amendment denies tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3)...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Federal Court Paves the Way for Public Disclosure of Contributions to 501(c)(4) Organizations and the Supreme Court Acquiesces,...

On August 3, 2018, Judge Beryl Howell, the Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a ruling invalidating long-standing Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations because the FEC had...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Proposed Tax Reform Bill Impacts Philanthropy and Tax-Exempt Organizations

On November 2, 2017, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) introduced H.R. 1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (the “Bill”). At over four hundred pages, the Bill promises substantial changes to the Internal...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Manafort Indictment Alleges High-End International Money Laundering and Tax Fraud Involving Offshore Accounts

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As the world now knows, an indictment against Paul Manafort, Jr., a former campaign chairperson for now-President Donald Trump, and Manafort’s associate, Richard Gates III, was unsealed yesterday. ...more

Stinson LLP

PACs, Campaigns and Dark Money: What is the Law?

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In 2016, Missouri voters enshrined new campaign finance laws in the state constitution. The Missouri Ethics Commission issued several interpreting opinions and a federal court has enjoined parts of the law as...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

President Trump’s New Johnson Amendment Executive Order: Is the Bark Worse than the Bite?

Earlier last week we reported on proposed bills regarding the repeal or modification of the “Johnson Amendment” which established the absolute prohibition on political campaign activity by 501(c)(3) charitable organizations. ...more

Proskauer - Not for Profit/Exempt...

Is It the End of the Johnson Amendment as We Know It?

While speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 2, 2017, President Trump reaffirmed his commitment to repeal the law that restricts organizations that are tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue...more

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know Before Advocating a Political Agenda

A Brief Case Study: Your nonprofit’s founder sends out an email in their official capacity to all of its members urging the them to vote for or against a political candidate or for or against a local proposition. It may...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Proposed Legislation Would Allow Limited Political Campaign Activity for Charitable Organizations

Recently, we wrote about the absolute prohibition on political campaign activity by 501(c)(3) charitable organizations, and the importance of managing the use of social media to avoid violating these rules. This prohibition...more

Perkins Coie

New IRS Notification Requirement for Certain 501(c)(4)s

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The IRS published temporary proposed regulations on July 12, 2016 that will impact all 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations formed after July 8, 2016. The proposed regulations will also impact many existing 501(c)(4)...more

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