No tax charges filed in SPLC probe after IRS lawyers found informant program lawful
Summary
Federal agents investigated the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) paid informant program for possible tax crimes but found no charges were warranted after IRS lawyers said the program was legal. The investigation began during President Trump’s first term and looked into whether the nonprofit properly reported payments to informants; no tax charges were filed, although a separate fraud indictment was made.Key Facts
- The IRS Criminal Investigation unit looked into the SPLC’s payment system for informants in 2019 and 2020.
- The SPLC used shell bank accounts to pay informants who provided information about hate groups.
- A Treasury Department rule exempts nonprofits like the SPLC from filing tax returns related to payments to informants.
- As a result, IRS lawyers advised against pressing tax charges.
- The probe started during President Trump’s first term as an expansion of an FBI investigation into possible embezzlement by a former SPLC chief financial officer.
- In April, the Justice Department indicted the SPLC on wire and bank fraud charges unrelated to taxes.
- The SPLC denies wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.
- Some informants interviewed by the IRS in 2020 have since died.
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