The IRS once again has stirred the ire of nonprofit groups, this time with a proposal organizations say could someday require them to collect and hand over the Social Security numbers of their donors.
Under the proposed rule, the IRS would create an optional filing for 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Those participating would, as part of their yearly report, turn over the Social Security numbers of any donors who give $250 or more to a charity in a given year.
Mark Fitzgibbons, president of corporate affairs at American Target Advertising, which runs a number of conservative 501(c)(3) nonprofits said “I don’t know any charity that would adopt this, but those who do will certainly be scaring their donors.”
The relationship between certain nonprofits and the IRS already suffers from trust issues in the wake of the controversy over officials subjecting conservative groups seeking another kind of nonprofit status to additional scrutiny.
The backlash over this rule, though, appears bipartisan and focused specifically on the security implications.
501(c)(3) organizations include charities, churches, universities – any group for which a donor can claim a deduction on their annual income taxes. They do not include groups that engage primarily in political activism or fundraising like PACs.