OC IRS Office Named in Conservative Groups Tax Controversy

An Orange County office of the Internal Revenue Service is getting attention for its involvement in the growing controversy over the federal agency’s alleged deeper-than-usual scrutinizing of conservative political organizations that sought non-profit tax-exempt status.

In addition to the office Laguna Niguel, IRS offices in El Monte, Washington and Cincinnati have been named as the sources of letters that were mailed out to various groups identifying themselves as “tea party” and other organizations critical of the Obama administration’s policies, the Washington Post reported today.

In a press conference Monday, President Obama said that such actions by IRS officials were uncalled for, exclaiming “I’ve got no patience with it. I will not tolerate it.”

In a press conference Monday, President Obama said that such actions by IRS officials were uncalled for, exclaiming “I’ve got no patience with it. I will not tolerate it.”

The letters mailed out to conservative groups were essentially questionnaires that requested further information if such groups were going to be granted tax-exempt, non-profit status. (To read the questionnaire, click the PDF file in the box on the right.)

Lois Lerner, director of tax exempt organizations for the IRS, apologized for her agency’s actions on Friday, stating that political motives weren’t the reason for the conservative groups being singled out for having words like “tea party” and "patriot” in their name."

They did pick the cases by names, and that's absolutely inappropriate and not the way we should do things," Lerner said in a news conference. "That's not how we go about selecting cases for further review."

The IRS receives about 60,000 requests each year from groups seeking tax-exempt status, and the agency needs to verify each case to ensure that no one is trying to wiggle out of paying taxes.

While conservative groups may be fuming, the IRS has also been accused of targeting groups with liberal leanings. During the last Bush presidency, the IRS probed into the tax-exempt non-profit status of Greenpeace and the NAACP. The agency also threatened the tax-exempt status of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena due to political and anti-war sermons delivered by its pastor.