Andy Barr Stands with us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 19, 2012
Andy Barr Denounces the Internal Revenue Service for Its
Disparate Treatment of Organizations Promoting Limited Government

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY – Today, Andy Barr joined conservatives across the
country in denouncing the overzealous scrutiny by the Internal Revenue
Service (IRS) of organizations promoting limited government, including the
Kentucky 9/12 Project.

Recently, many organizations who had sought tax exempt status under
Section 501(c)4 of the Internal Revenue Code have received exhaustive and
invasive questionnaires from the IRS seeking voluminous amounts of
information. Questions have included demands that the organizations
disclose the identity and affiliations of every member and volunteer, the
details and content of every meeting and the name of any person who has
ever addressed the group.

“These burdensome and invasive demands for information are not only
unnecessary for purposes of making the legal determination of tax exempt
status, they also represent an overreach of the agency’s authority and an
affront to the basic principles of freedom of association,” said Andy
Barr.

In many cases, including the Kentucky 9/12 Project, more than a year has
passed between the groups’ original applications and the IRS’s new
interest in detailed, follow-up questionnaires.

“Most troubling is the fact that these organizations—groups dedicated to
promoting limited government and individual liberty—have been singled out.
While such an inquisition is typical of this Administration’s big
government approach to governing, the disparate treatment of these
organizations can only be characterized as intimidation and bullying.”

“The IRS should immediately stop the harassment of these liberty
organizations, and I call on Congressman Ben Chandler to join me in asking
for a Congressional investigation into these practices.”

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