At a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Thursday, the person now running the IRS told lawmakers that groups whose names include a “diversity of political labels” were among those whose applications for tax-exempt status had experienced delays.
“This week we’re sending out letters to taxpayers that have been in our backlog for more than 120 days to offer them this option, this fast track option,” Daniel Werfel, principal deputy commissioner of the IRS, said. “There’s diversity of political labels in the groups that are getting this letter.”
Werfel said he “didn’t want to leave the committee with the impression we’re that not seeing diversity of political labels across the spectrum.”
“What I’m suggesting is more analysis, significant more analysis is needed before we reach conclusions about what that means in terms of an IRS failure or an IRS issue,” Werfel said.
In response, Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, emphasized that he thought Werfel’s assertions were premature.
“I think that you might have called these ‘initial conclusions,’ and I think ‘initial’ probably should be emphasized,” Camp said. “I would call them incomplete given that we still have more information.”
