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 The probe by the Committee on Finance followed accusations by
Republicans of IRS partisan activity in targeting groups mainly
linked to the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement that had
applied for tax-exempt status.
The main proposals agreed on by members of both parties in the
report, which runs to over 400 pages, were:
- Making clear objective criteria that could prompt reviews of
applications for tax exemption by 501(c)(4) non-profit groups, which
are limited by law in political involvement.
- Revising the Hatch Act, which limits partisan political activity
by government employees, to apply more rigorously to certain IRS and
other federal workers dealing with these groups.
- Making the IRS division dealing with such groups track the age and
cycle time of all its cases.
- Providing better training for IRS managers so they understand
501(c)(4) rules.
 Separate sections of the report gave opposing views of the
Republican members.
Republicans concluded that the IRS had chosen to look more closely
at conservative groups.
"First, we found that the IRS systemically selected Tea Party and
other conservative organizations for heightened scrutiny, in a
manner wholly different from how the IRS
processed applications submitted by left-leaning and nonpartisan
organizations," an executive summary said.
It also found an environment where political bias influences
decisions, citing the example of Lois Lerner, who headed a unit
involved in scrutinizing applications for tax-exempt status.
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In May 2013, Lerner apologized for what she called "inappropriate"
review of conservative groups' applications.
The IRS and other executive agencies began to scrutinize
conservative organizations that had or had sought tax-exempt status
soon after the administration of President Barack Obama had begun "a
concerted effort to constrain spending on political speech," it
said.
The Democratic summary said the process of reviewing applications
was "plagued by inefficiency, bad judgment, bad management and
unwarranted delay," but that the actions of IRS staff were not
politically motivated and that there had been no influence by
political appointees.
But, it said "...liberal and progressive groups were subject to the
same mismanagement by the IRS as the conservative groups."
Also, there was no evidence Lerner was affected by her political
beliefs in performing her duties, the summary said.
(Reporting by Eric Walsh; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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