'Alt-Right' Group Stripped of Tax-Exempt Status

Richard Spencer failed to file tax returns
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 14, 2017 7:11 AM CDT
White Nationalist Group Loses Tax-Exempt Status
"It’s a bit embarrassing, but it’s not good," Spencer said of his struggle with tax authorities.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

What does white supremacist Richard Spencer get up to when he isn't being punched in the face? It isn't filing paperwork: The Los Angeles Times reports that the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist group that Spencer has been running since 2011, has been stripped of its tax-exempt status for failing to file tax returns since 2012. Under IRS rules, a tax-exempt organization loses that status after not filing returns for three years. The NPI, which describes itself as "dedicated to the heritage, identity, and future of people of European descent" in the US and worldwide, has had its tax status removed retroactively as of May 15, 2016, when its 2015 return would have been due, Mic reports.

The loss of status means that the "alt-right" think-tank's supporters can no longer make tax-deductible donations. "I don't know what to say. I don't want to make a comment because I don't understand this stuff," Spencer tells the Times. "It's a bit embarrassing, but it's not good. We’ll figure it out." He blames an IRS error that meant the NPI was listed as not having to file returns. Tax experts however, say the error isn't a good enough excuse. The experts also say the NPI appears to have broken a ban on election year "partisan comments" from the leaders of tax-exempt groups with Spencer's calls for supporters to "fight" Hillary Clinton and make "the dream" of Donald Trump being president become reality. But, says one, "As a technical matter, they can’t have violated the provision, because they weren’t a charity anyway." (More Richard Spencer stories.)

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