John,
In an effort to chill the free press and civic groups that keep billionaires and corporations honest, Trump just released a “domestic terrorism” memo that attempts to bully the IRS into yanking tax-exempt status from nonprofits that criticize his agenda.[1] If watchdogs cannot report, organize, and litigate, the public loses its best defense against rigged tax policy and larger attacks on our democracy. We need an IRS that enforces the law neutrally, not a political hammer aimed at dissent.
A strong, independent IRS had begun to make the rich pay what they owe, collecting over $1 billion from millionaire tax cheats in less than a year.[2] That is how accountability works in a democracy, and it’s why corrupt politicians try to short-circuit it. Attempts to intimidate the agency into punishing critics are about protecting the wealthy and allowing Trump’s policies to go unchecked.
The same civil society Trump wants to muzzle is the one exposing how the ultra-rich benefit from special breaks and lax enforcement. Billionaires’ combined wealth has soared to about $8.0 trillion, and their ranks have swelled since his 2017 tax rewrite, which showered benefits on those at the top.[4] If you silence the people documenting that reality, you make it easier to keep the grift going.
Tell Acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent to reject Trump’s “domestic terrorism” memo and refuse to strip tax-exempt status from nonprofits for doing journalism and advocacy.
If the government can label protest coverage or advocacy as “indirectly supporting violence,” any newsroom or nonprofit that challenges power becomes a target. That kind of authoritarianism is a back-door way to shield billionaire donors and corporate tax cheats from scrutiny by bankrupting their critics with audits, referrals, and legal threats.
Direct File’s success, as just one example, shows what happens when public agencies serve the public. Families save money. Filing gets easier. Trust grows. That requires professional independence and steady funding, not political purges dressed up as “national security.”
Congressional extremists already tried over previous years to kneecap enforcement to help the wealthy. But when the IRS finally got resources again, audit rates for the rich rose, and the agency went after complex evasion instead of hassling working families. That is the model to protect, not the one that starves watchdogs and silences reporters.
We must fight for a robust, critical civil society because it is essential to fair tax policy and democratic accountability.
We need every voice right now. Tell the IRS Commissioner to publicly reject any effort to redefine journalism and advocacy as “terrorism,” and to affirm that tax-exempt status depends on the law, not on ideology.
Let’s stop the Trump administration from punishing nonprofits.
David Kass
Executive Director
Americans for Tax Fairness Action Fund
[1] Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence
[2] IRS collected $1 billion in back taxes from millionaires in less than a year
[3] IRS Direct File Pilot Exceeds Usage Goal, Receiving Positive User Ratings and Saving Taxpayers Money
[4] Billionaire Wealth Tops $8 Trillion Amid Federal Shutdown
