Would you like a look at how Citizens United has influenced US politics? Maybe, just maybe, you might come away from the embedded OpenSecretsBlog tables with an understanding of why the IRS would spend extra effort in attempts to validate non-profit status of many organizations. It should not take a major Einstein ‘mental epiphany’ to see how and why organizations, sanctioned by Citizens United and facilitated via flawed IRS codes, would draw IRS analyst attention. If you have followed news this week, you may know that Elijah Cummings (D) Md. has released the full transcript of Oversight Committee hearings on the IRS alleged scandal that was not a scandal. As you view the tables below, keep in mind the 501(C)(4) is the code that led to heightened IRS scrutiny of Citizens United induced potential for tax evasion.
A bit of research will yield findings indicating groups in the table are not all “conservative.”
IRS CODE Reference Chart
| 1986 Code | Description of Organization | General nature of activities | Application Form No. | Annual return required to be filed | Contributions allowable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 501(c)(1) | Corporations Organized Under Act of Congress (including Federal Credit Unions) | Instrumentalities of the United States | No Form | None | Yes, if made for exclusively public purposes |
| 501(c)(2) | Title Holding Corporation For Exempt Organization | Holding title to property of an exempt organization | 1024 | 9901 or 990EZ8 | No2 |
| 501(c)(3) | Religious. Educational, Charitable, Scientific, Literary. Testing for Public Safety, to Foster National or International Amateur Sports Competition, or Prevention of Cruelty to Children or Animals Organizations | Activities of nature implied by description of class of organization | 1023 | 9901 or 990EZ8, or 990-PF | Yes, generally2,3 |
| 501(c)(4) | Civic Leagues, Social Welfare Organizations, and Local Associations of Employees | Promotion of community welfare; charitable, educational or recreational | 1024 | 9901 or 990EZ8 | No, generally2,3 |
| 501(c)(5) | Labor, Agricultural, and Horticultural Organizations | Educational or instructive, the purpose being to improve conditions of work, and to improve products and efficiency | 1024 | 9901 or 990EZ8 | No2 |
| 501(c)(6) | Business Leagues, Changers of Commerce, Real Estate Boards, Etc. | Improvement of business conditions of one or more lines of business | 1024 | 9901 or 990EZ8 | No2 |
Note: For groups that want to be politically active, alternative corporate structures are available, such as super PACs and “527” groups — and those groups aren’t limited to spending just 49.9 percent of their resources on politics. However, they are required to disclose their donors.
Political Nonprofits: Top Donors
These are the top donor organizations to politically active 501(c) nonprofits — or, rather, these are the donors the Center for Responsive Politics has been able to identify. Groups on the receiving end aren’t required to publicly reveal who their contributors are. However, 501(c) groups must disclose the names of organizations to which they make donations. By sifting through hundreds of 990 tax forms, where the disclosure occurs, we have come up with this list.
Other donors — such as individuals and corporations — aren’t required to publicly report such gifts, so the sources of much of the money flowing to politically active tax-exempt groups remain unknown.
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center.
Now take a look at the same table sorted by “Type.”
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center.
We believe OpenSecrets is unparalleled in their efforts to help the informed follow the money. Their detailed work helps you and me see the impact on the money on legislation.
If you closely follow OpenSecrets tracking you will see clear evidence that the majority of members of Congress march the drum beat of organizations which buy votes as a corporate strategy.
The Pardu's Scroll 