Trump Wants to Revoke Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status
The IRS can revoke Harvard’s status, not the president. Even then it has specific criteria to revoke tax-exempt status.
President Donald Trump wants to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
Trump says he'll revoke Harvard's tax exempt status. pic.twitter.com/cEINvAWrHp
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) May 2, 2025
It’s not that simple. I’m not going to look at other media outlets for information.
I am going to research the topic myself.
Trump cannot revoke anyone’s tax-exempt status. Only the IRS can do that.
However, the IRS has strict criteria to follow to revoke tax-exempt status. Despite Harvard becoming an antisemitic cesspool…it’s not on the list:
- Private Benefit/Inurement: Activities cannot serve private interests or certain individuals. It has to serve the public. Income and assets cannot benefit insiders.
- Lobbying: These “activities cannot be more than an insubstantial part of its overall activities.”
- Political Activity: No electioneering. None.
- Unrelated Business Income: Earning too much income from unrelated activities that aren’t related to the organization’s exempt purpose. The IRS said, though, “there are some modifications, exclusions, and exceptions.”
- Annual Reporting Obligation: Must fill out one of the Form 990 series every year.
- Operation in accord with stated exempt purposes: Don’t deviate from the purpose given on IRS form for exemption.
If this is the only criteria…I mean, this explains why the Church of Scientology is still tax-exempt. Not to mention so many other organizations and what not.
Also, every non-profit university is exempt from paying taxes on its academic property.
I’ve seen people point to H.R.2676, the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, but after reading it, I found that it specifically states that no federal official can tell the IRS to investigate a taxpayer to increase trust in tax enforcement.
Also, unfortunately, from what I can tell, the “Don’t Weaponize the IRS Act” never materialized in Congress. Republicans introduced it due to the IRS targeting the Tea Party for ideological reasons.
Actually, that might be good for Trump and the IRS. If the IRS does go after Harvard and the bill became law, I can see the school have some standing fighting against it.
EITHER WAY. Going by the criteria on the IRS website it won’t happen. Should it happen?
YES.
Make these schools pay these taxes. Maybe, just maybe, the government would stop taxing us to death.
I’m not holding my breath for either one.
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Comments
if he can why talk about it
brag about it after you have done so those miserable leftists have no right to others money via taxation
Just do it. Let them sue. Discovery Discovery Discovery. Let them answer for everything they do and don’t do.
Their failure to report millions of foreign money in violation of law seems to meet the criteria.
even sadder:
Trump cannot revoke anyone’s tax exempt status. Only the IRS can do that.
more unelected having power over americans
THAT HAS TO STOP!!
maga
THE president is allowed to refer folks for.investigation by the IRS. The USSC made it clear in Bob Jones v United States that racial discrimination is grounds for revocation. Coincidentally Harvard was found to be a discriminatory organization by the courts. The latest internal.reporta demonstrate that they continue in the negative behavior amd they have refused to stop.
Gee, I wonder who it is that runs the branch of government and owns all authority in that branch that happens to include the Internal Revenue Service?
Trump thinks he can do whatever he wants. Damn the law, and damn the Constitution.
Trump can absolutely exercise 100% of the powers within the Executive branch, both those set out in our Constitution and those activities delegated from Congress to the Executive or created by Congress and granted to the Executive. That’s what the unitary Executive is or as the Constitution phases it; ‘The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the USA’.
Any statute granting any power/authority or discretion to any Executive Branch Agency can be exercised directly by the President if he so chooses to exercise it himself.
I’m over you
Huh, ‘we’ll always have Paris’ doesn’t apply but you do you.
but that’s not even necessary. He appointed the head of the IRS didn’t he?
Are you taking a position against Bob Jones v US? Rumor is Harvard signed an Alice’s Brief in that case all those years ago.
Never forget that Trump is greatly superior to little peon JR.
So is the gum on my shoe
Smokin’ hot take, bonehead.
Got anything else?
Maybe you should read it. What is your intention here? To prove what TDS looks like? Or what a broken record sounds like? Seriously, what makes you come here and make a fool out of yourself to vitually everyone here. Do tell.
Joyless *JR” Reid spews again. It look like JR might lock up that gig on the View after all.
Just revoke all taxpayer funding. These are private institutions.
Bob Jones University lost its tax exemption for reasons not listed in your post. Wouldn’t the IRS still be on solid ground citing that case as precedent?
I should’ve added – but apply it to religious discrimination instead of racial.
DEI is racial discrimination.
Theu lost it for “racially discriminatory policies”. That is on all 4s with Harvard
The President can’t pull anyone’s tax exempt status. This was an outgrowth of Watergate. What he can do is bring the Speaker in and bring forth a bill to get rid of all 501c’s. All of them. Get rid of tax exempt status. Just the threat alone of a bill will put these guys in line.
The president appoints people to run various departments, which if he does the job right, will cooperate with his agenda. He appoints the head of the IRS.
I don’t understand why it was even mentioned that the IRS does it. Of course. And the State Department revokes visas of Hamas-supporting students, not Trump himself, but since Trump appointed a strong leader to the State Department who concurs with his agenda, State is doing that.
Bob Jones University (there is a Supreme Court case). IRS can revoke tax exempt status for public policy reasons like discrimination. Harvard still has a quiet racially weighted admissions policy despite last year’s Supreme Court case, and there is plenty of proof they discriminate (based on jewishness and whiteness).
The administration can use Harvard’s own report against them.
Also: the depositions, the hearings, the leaks that will come out,… even if Harvard eventually wins there is going to so much dirty laundry aired it will damage them for a very long time. Nobody wins a prolonged lawsuit against the Federal Government. Yes, 3 years from now, they may win the principle. Meanwhile every nasty race baiting email will be aired on Twitter.
Tar Harvard until they are unable to draw applicants.
and Asian-ness, the original discrimination cited in SFFA v. Harvard.
Non-profit only means no shareholders. Organizations of all types are run for the benefit of the organization’s participants. In the case of shareholder ownership, sometimes a DOGE operation of some kind can dislodge some more money towards them, but not always.
501c3 (tax exempt contributions) vs. other kinds of nonprofit like 501c4 where contributions are not tax exempt.
I am not quite following the logic here at the end of the article. It seems to me that, since the “Don’t Weaponize the IRS” bill did not pass, Trump has some leeway to “weaponize the IRS”, like this for example. Not sure if that’s what the article says, but that’s how I understand the situation.
It’s legal. And since Biden got away with lots of such weaponization, turnabout is not only fair play, it should happen, preferably hitting back harder than the initial hit.
I don’t know if Harvard’s offenses are on the list or not, but a week or two Trump asked the IRS to investigate (remember he appoints the head of the IRS), and now he’s going public saying they are doing it, so presumably they believe they can get it done.
All the rest is meaningless. This is the key. But this says absolutely nothing.
What alleged purpose qualifies a clearly profit-making entity to claim tax-exempt status (and thus extend tax privileges to others via donations made to this entity)?
Whatever such purposes might be, Harvard clearly doesn’t qualify in any way.
Frankly, the whole tax-exempt/non-profit industry is a total joke. It was first pointed out that it was a joke by Howard Hughes and Hughes Medical. 98% of non-profit/tax-exempt entities are scams. This needs to be totally revamped. Further, no tax-exempt/non-profit entity can be allowed to receive ANY government funds for anything and no tax-exempt/non-profit entity can be allowed to do any sort of contract work for any government body.
A charity must exist solely on its own and only do exactly what is actually charity work and nothing else, and not be paid by any government to do any of it.
So this all a pipe dream. : (. Sounds like Harvard gets to go own collecting millions in tax payer dollars while discriminating against Jews, Asians and white people. It’s good to be an elite, now, always and forever.
Seems like a $50 Billion endowment invested earning billions annually clearly violates your unrelated business income option.
The Harvard=Chinese connection is clear:
https://freebeacon.com/campus/harvard-quietly-trained-members-of-chinese-paramilitary-organization-after-the-us-sanctioned-it-over-uyghur-genocide/