Local veterans group decry IRS audit rules

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder brought together about 25 local veterans Friday to join him in decrying changes in the way the Internal Revenue Service audits veterans organizations.

A congressional committee recently began a review of alleged improper audits of the American Legion, and Kinder and other lawmakers are attempting to gather local attention for the issue.

Part of the guidelines for IRS audits of veterans organizations mandate that the organizations keep records that show their income and qualify them for tax-exempt status.

For audits, local posts keep discharge records of members on file and present the records during auditing. But members of local posts say the audits go too far and cause problems, because not all members have discharge or separation papers or other military documents when records become lost or damaged and can't be easily reproduced. Posts can be fined up to $1,000 a day until they meet audit requirements. Posts also don't want to be tasked with the handling and safekeeping of documents that often contain Social Security numbers and other identifying information.

Opponents of the audits are speaking out lately against the IRS's methods.

"This action is unreasonable and intrusive. We are sounding the alarm," Kinder said Friday during the gathering at Cape County Park.

Responding to media inquiries about audit changes, the IRS said there are "special rules in the nation's tax law to provide tax-exempt status, and also specific criteria set by Congress that groups must meet to qualify and operate under that status, ranging from membership guidelines to fundraising efforts."

James Roche, a member of American Legion Post 158 in Jackson, said the IRS audits represent an unfair targeting of veterans organizations. In 2011, the post underwent an audit. The auditor, Roche said, told post members the agency's main responsibility was to audit organizations such as theirs.

U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, R-Salem, compared the IRS audits of veterans groups to the recent controversy over alleged IRS scrutiny of conservative groups.

" ... It now appears the agency has its sights set on America's veterans," Smith said in a statement. "Targeting the very men and women who have defended our freedoms at home and abroad is outrageous."

Smith said he plans to work to hold the agency accountable and to speak personally with IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel when Congress reconvenes. Smith's office, according to his staff, is working to help veterans obtain service-related documents they may need. Smith spokesman Justin Gibbs said veterans can call the congressman's Cape Girardeau office at 335-0101 for more information.

Kinder said he is speaking out about the issue because he wants to see the IRS held responsible for what he sees as a government overreach. Dennis Woeltje, vice commander of the state of Missouri for the American Legion and a member of Cape Girardeau's Post 63, said veterans want the IRS audit manual changed.

"The IRS is stepping into territory with this we wish they would stay out of," he said.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

Cape County Park North, Cape Girardeau, MO