Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – House Small Business Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) today wrote to the IRS to inquire whether the agency also targeted small businesses for political reasons as they did with conservative nonprofit groups. Among many questions, Graves asks whether the tax returns of small businesses were selected for closer review and what criteria were used to select small businesses for audits.  

In 2011, Graves led a joint hearing with Oversight & Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) on a proposed Presidential Executive Order that would have required small businesses pursuing government contracts to disclose their campaign contributions. The executive order was never released but many small businesses and legislators from both political parties felt the proposal was an attempt to target businesses for political reasons. Graves now wants to know if small businesses may have been targeted by this administration through the IRS for political reasons.

Graves wrote in the letter, “Recent Congressional investigations have raised questions about Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting the non-profit status requests of certain conservative organizations. These investigations have only raised more questions as to the extent these practices may have extended beyond conservative groups.”

Graves requested that answers to his questions be provided by June 17, 2013. To read the full letter to the Internal Revenue Service, click HERE.

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