5 More Religious Groups Say They Were Targeted by IRS

Five more religious organizations said this week that they have been targeted for special scrutiny of their tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service.

The Religion News Service reported the five as:

• Catholics United Education Fund, an affiliate of the progressive Catholics United, which had an application that it said had “languished for years” before being approved.
• Christian Voices for Life, based in Fort Bend County, Texas, which experienced delays in its application for tax-exempt status in 2011, according to the Thomas More Society.
• Coalition for Life of Iowa, an organization that says it promotes “respect for human life . . . through prayer, education and raising awareness.” The group also faced delays before getting its tax-exempt status in 2009, according to the Thomas More Society.
• Family Talk Action, the advocacy arm of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family organization, which said its application for 501(c)(4) status was delayed and questioned between 2011 and 2013.
• Z Street, a conservative Jewish organization that has a federal court hearing on July 2 after suing the IRS for viewpoint discrimination.

Earlier, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and its Samaritan’s Purse affiliate were among the groups saying they had been audited by the IRS.

Others included The Biblical Recorder newspaper of the North Carolina Baptist State Convention, which published an interview in 2012 with Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy regarding his support of traditional family values, and the Catholic League, a conservative advocacy group.