CAIR May Have New IRS Tax Status

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A website of unknown origin has observed that the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) a part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood, is currently describing its tax status as 501(c)(3) rather than 501(c)(4). According to the report:

The organization was registered for many years under the IRS tax code 501c(4) which allowed the organization to conduct lobbying activities, campaign funding, legislation and candidate backing, and many other government and litigation related activities. A 501c(4) tax status is very difficult to maintain, requiring quarterly public filings, and is very regulated under strict lobbying laws, yet is the most powerful tax status for organizations wishing to influence government. CAIR, who was under this status, had numerous members of their leadership indicted on terrorism related charges in the past, and had received large amounts of funding from questionable foreign sources. Many critics of the group often wondered how CAIR was able to hold on to such a highly critiqued tax status such as 501c(4). In contrast there is another tax status which is much weaker, and one that is very easy for most anyone to receive, and that status is 501c(3), a status which U.S. tax laws prohibit such organizations from engaging in large amounts of lobbying and government influence activities, it is a status for educational groups and churches, which is greatly restricted in the ability to influence any kind of legislation. CAIR has recently downgraded the description of their organization on their website to 501c(3). While calls to their office could not confirm the reasons, it appears that CAIR may have lost the status as of the first of this year.

It should be noted however that while more restrictive in terms of lobbying, unlike 501c(3), 501c(4) status does not allow donations to be taken as tax deductions and the change in status may be a hint about the financial status of the CAIR.

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