The IRS admitted to using political names as a basis for discrimination

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In a landmark legal settlement, the IRS admitted to subjecting conservative groups to "heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays" based on their names and political viewpoints. This admission marked a historic victory for civil liberties, confirming that using political themes to administer tax laws violates fundamental First Amendment rights.

The controversy erupted in 2013 when an IRS official revealed that the agency had been aggressively scrutinizing organizations applying for tax-exempt status based on keywords like "Tea Party" and "Patriots." While initial reports suggested the targeting was nearly exclusive to conservative groups, a 2017 Treasury Department Inspector General report found that the IRS had used both conservative and liberal keywords to select targets between 2004 and 2013. Nevertheless, a House Oversight Committee finding stated that liberal organisations were not 'targeted' in proportion to the more intense observation experienced by conservative entities.

The legal fallout resulted in two major settlements announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In one case, the IRS expressed a "sincere apology" to Linchpins of Liberty and 40 other conservative groups for wrongly demanding unnecessary information. In a separate case involving NorCal Tea Party Patriots and 427 other groups, the government reached a "substantial financial settlement." A three-point declaratory judgment in the Linchpins case explicitly declared it wrong to apply tax laws based on an entity's name or political viewpoint, stating such discrimination violates the First Amendment.

The investigation into the matter was extensive, including an FBI criminal probe ordered by Attorney General Eric Holder. Despite the controversy, the Justice Department declared in October 2015 that no criminal charges would be filed, citing a lack of evidence of "enemy hunting." While the settlements provide a formal apology and admission of wrongdoing, they do not fully resolve the fierce debate over how the IRS handled the surge in tax-exempt applications that began around 2010.

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