Bill to cloak U.S. 'dark money' seen as harmful to charity fraud fight
Source: Reuters
Bill to cloak U.S. 'dark money' seen as harmful to charity fraud fight
By David Morgan
May 24, 2016
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fighting charity fraud could become more difficult under a Republican bill in Congress to prohibit the U.S. Internal Revenue Service from collecting the names of top donors to charities and other nonprofit groups, critics warned on Tuesday.
Meant to protect the privacy of wealthy individuals who make anonymous, or "dark money" donations to politically active nonprofit groups, the bill would eliminate a decades-old IRS donor-identity disclosure requirement for a range of tax-exempt groups that includes hospitals, universities, community and sports organizations.
Backers of the legislation say donor lists have sometimes been disclosed to the public even though the names and addresses are supposed to be private.
In a related development, the IRS itself plans to propose new regulations eliminating donor-reporting requirements for most tax-exempt organizations, according to a document posted on a White House Office of Management and Budget website. It is unclear which groups would still be subject to disclosure under the regulations, which are expected in December.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/bill-cloak-u-dark-money-seen-harmful-charity-202230075.html?nhp=1
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