EXTREMISMIRS Granted Tax-Exempt Status to Extremists, Including an Oath Keepers Foundation – Here’s Why That’s Not as Surprising as It Sounds
Not all nonprofits are principled or embrace missions everyone considers worthy of the tax-exempt status that the government grants some 2 million organizations. A large part of the strength of the nonprofit sector lies in its diversity of causes and viewpoints, and therefore it’s better for the government to err on the side of authorizing too many tax-exempt organizations than to quash free speech. But it should be clear that charities that encourage violence and cheer on extremism are not contributing to society with any of the purposes the IRS allows.
When someone mentions nonprofits, chances are you picture homeless shelters, free medical clinics, museums and other groups that you believe are doing good one way or another.
Most of these organizations are legitimate. But not all nonprofits are principled or embrace missions everyone considers worthy of the tax-exempt status that the government grants some 2 million organizations.
You might presume that the government would automatically refuse to grant tax-exempt status to white nationalist and anti-government groups. Yet as a scholar who has researched nonprofit accountability, I’ve seen the authorities struggle to draw the line between which organizations deserve to operate as nonprofits and those that don’t.
8 purposes Allowed
The wide array of U.S. nonprofits includes many media outlets, chambers of commerce and political parties. But the term usually refers to the organizations that meet the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code. Officially designated as charities, these groups don’t pay income taxes and can accept tax-deductible donations.
All 501(c)(3)s must apply to the Internal Revenue Service for tax exemption unless their revenues are less than US$5,000 or they are a church, synagogue, mosque or other house of worship.
The IRS usually grants this status to any applicant with at least one of eight purposes, including being charitable or educational.
Figuring out if food banks deserve exemption is generally straightforward, as they engage in an obviously charitable activity.
Determining whether organizations are truly religious or educational is harder.
Oath Keepers Educational Foundation
Some groups with ties to the Oath Keepers – an extremist group with leaders who were found guilty of seditious conspiracy connected to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol – were granted this status.
Until recently, the Oath Keepers had chapters scattered across the country, and the main group never became a 501(c)(3) organization. But the Oath Keepers Educational Foundation and several smaller affiliated groups did obtain that status.
The foundation told the IRS when it sought charitable status that its primary purpose was “to give veterans an opportunity for continued involvement in community service.”
The Oath Keepers network has largely collapsed amid the prosecution of its members who engaged in the Jan. 6 attack. Most notably, founder Stewart Rhodes was found guilty in 2022 of seditious conspiracy for helping plot the insurrection. He is expected to be sentenced around May 25, 2023, and could spend more than two decades in prison. Rhodes was also listed as the foundation’s president when it was established.
