From the Ways and Means Committee:
Congressman Dave Camp, (R-MI), Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and Congressman Sander Levin (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Committee, today announced that the Committee will hold a hearing on the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) practice of targeting applicants for tax-exempt status based on political leanings. The hearing will take place on Friday, May 17, 2013, in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 9:00 A.M.
Acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Steve Miller, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, J. Russell George, will be the only witnesses at the hearing. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
Since June 2011, the Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating whether the Internal Revenue Service discriminated against taxpayers based on political opinions. News reports indicate that the agency is now admitting this past practice.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Camp said, “The American public expects the Internal Revenue Service to be apolitical in its enforcement of our tax laws. News that the agency admits it targeted American taxpayers based on politics is both astounding and appalling. The Committee on Ways and Means will get to the bottom of this practice and ensure it never takes place again.”
In announcing the hearing, Ranking Member Sander Levin said, “The American people must have the fullest confidence that organizations requesting tax exemption receive completely unbiased treatment from the Internal Revenue Service and are never singled out by name or political views. The nation deserves a complete understanding of this matter, and as Chairman Camp and I discussed this morning, it is essential that there be a thorough and bipartisan investigation and effective remedial action.”
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will focus on the Internal Revenue Service’s practice of discriminating against applicants for tax-exempt status based on the political leanings of the applicants.
