Koch-backed seniors group low-balling election spending?
The 60 Plus Association — a nonprofit senior citizen advocacy group funded largely by billionaire businessmen Charles and David Koch’s conservative political network — appears to have vastly understated its level of election spending on federal tax filings, a Center for Public Integrity review of documents indicates.
The Virginia-based organization told the Federal Election Commission that it spent about $4.6 million on political ads and “voter contact” phone calls endorsing or denouncing federal candidates during the three months prior to the 2012 election.
Related: Discrepancies in reported political spending?
But it reported spending a mere $35,000 on “direct and indirect political campaign activities” during its entire 2012 fiscal year to the Internal Revenue Service. It didn’t count toward that amount $4 million in spending it reported separately as “educating seniors by influencing the election of political candidates.”
It’s a felony to “willfully” file IRS tax returns containing fraudulent information.
Related: Who's bankrolling the 60 Plus Association?
Whether the organization violated the law is difficult to say given the vagueness of the government statutes that regulate nonprofits, but it does appear the group is using aggressive accounting to come across as less political — a move that could help it avoid IRS scrutiny.
Reached July 22 via email, 60 Plus Association spokesman Gerry Scimeca wrote, “Very busy day, will respond when I can.” Scimeca did not respond to numerous follow-up attempts seeking information about the apparent discrepancy.
Related: Political nonprofits bungle IRS filings
The 60 Plus Association is a so-called “social welfare” nonprofit, organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. Such organizations are prohibited from making electoral politics their primary purpose. They are not required to publicly disclose the names of their donors — unlike candidates, parties and political action committees that are.
Campaign finance reform advocates for years have called on the IRS to investigate politically active nonprofits that spend significant portions of their budgets on election-related ads, but the agency has been slow to act. At the same time, the IRS has found itself embroiled in multiple congressional investigations regarding its alleged targeting of conservative nonprofits for additional scrutiny during the tax-exempt application process.
Related: Watchdog files IRS complaint against Koch-connected 60 Plus Association
The 60 Plus Association’s apparent reporting discrepancies first began during the 2010 midterm elections, federal records indicate.
There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.
This story is part of Consider the Source. Seeking to ‘out’ shadowy political organizations flourishing in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
