“There was no intent to hide this issue, but rather we waited until TIGTA completed their fact finding, made recommendations, and we reviewed their findings,” the IRS said. The IRS responded to the TIGTA report in a short statement late on Tuesday, conceding that “inappropriate shortcuts were used” to screen groups for political activity. This practice was carried out in Cincinnati and other locations by agents responsible for deciding if groups deserved to get tax-exempt status, based on limits imposed on their political activities by Section 501(c)(4) of the U.S. The report cited long delays, excessive requests for donor information and general dysfunction in handling cases.īeginning in 2010, IRS agents in a Cincinnati field office screened thousands of non-profit groups’ applications for tax-exempt status based on the presence of key words in their names such as “Tea Party” and “Patriot.”

President Barack Obama called the findings “intolerable” and “inexcusable.” He said he would direct Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to hold those responsible for the agency’s actions accountable.

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) reported that the IRS used “inappropriate criteria” when it singled out groups for extra scrutiny based on their names. government watchdog faulted the Internal Revenue Service for targeting conservative groups on Tuesday, criticizing senior IRS leaders for poor management of a policy that spun out of control and compromised the tax agency’s political impartiality.Īs the FBI mounted a criminal investigation of the matter, the U.S.

Government watchdog groups