IRS Receives Comments On Proposed Church Audit Rule Change

Today's BNA Daily Report for Executives [subscription required] summarizes four sets of comments the Internal Revenue Service has received on proposed changes in its Regulation governing which official has authority to authorize church tax inquiries. (See prior posting.) The proposal is designed to clarify the confusion over who has that authority after a 1998 IRS reorganization. Comments from D.C. attorney Marcus Owens object to the IRS conclusion that the authority should be given to the Director of Exempt Organizations. He urges that the authority should be vested in an official who has experience in making high-level sensitive policy decisions and who does not have church tax compliance as a significant part of his responsibilities.