Washington, D.C. – Rep. Todd Rokita recently voted in support of H.R. 5053, the Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act, which passed out of the House of Representatives. H.R. 5053 prevents the IRS from collecting and releasing information about private donors to tax-exempt organizations. This information was used in the past for political purposes to target Tea Party groups. Rep. Todd Rokita had this to say following the bill’s passage.
“Under the Obama administration, the IRS has consistently proven itself to be untrustworthy when it comes to doing its job in a non-political way. Whether it was the targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny, or the poor handling and destruction of emails, the IRS has failed to keep the public’s trust. Prohibiting the IRS from requiring this unnecessary information is a commonsense reform that protects groups from both potential data leaks and from partisan targeting.”
H.R. 5053 prohibits the IRS from requiring the Schedule B form, which has non-profit groups report the names of individuals who have donated over $5,000 to the organization. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has said this information is not relevant to a group’s tax-exempt status. H.R. 5053 passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 240-182.
