IRS' Information on Revoked Charitable Tax-Exempt Organizations Could Be Improved

Gao ID: GGD-85-36 May 14, 1985

GAO reviewed information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) enforcement of tax exemption provisions governing charitable organizations.

GAO found that: (1) IRS information systems did not contain compatible information on all the organizations that had their charitable tax exemption revoked; (2) IRS procedures call for updating its internal information sources and notifying the public whenever an organization's charitable tax-exempt status is revoked; and (3) nonadherence to prescribed system input procedures resulted in inaccurate and inconsistent data. GAO also found that: (1) published IRS information did not identify those organizations which were appealing revocation; (2) an organization is entitled by law to receive tax-deductible contributions during an appeal litigation although its tax-exempt status has been revoked; (3) current IRS publications do not distinguish between organizations that have filed to challenge the revocation action and organizations that have not; and (4) the inconsistencies between IRS information sources and information obtained from the Department of Justice show that a complete and accurate listing of revoked organizations does not exist.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Johnny C. Finch Team: General Accounting Office: General Government Division Phone: (202) 512-7824


The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.