IRS
After decades of arguing that Scientology did not qualify for tax-exempt status, the US tax agency reversed itself in a secret settlement. What caused the complete reversal?
IRS in the News
IRS in the News
Date |
Title | Blurb | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 31, 1997 | IRS, leaked. Church, leak. Scientologists, Internet, alt.religion.of, involved | The IRS announces that it is to hold an internal inquiry into how the agreement was leaked. The Church of Scientology denounces the leak. Scientologists accuse unnamed participants in the Internet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology of being involved. | IRS |
| December 30, 1997 | IRS, Wall Street Journal, Web, front-page story. Newspapers, United States, story | The secret IRS agreement is leaked to the Wall Street Journal, which promptly puts it on its Web site and leads with a front-page story. Newspapers across the United States report the story. | IRS |
| March 21, 1996 | Tax Analysts, March 15 | Tax Analysts issues a press release announcing the March 15 decision that hundreds of "field service advice" memos used by IRS agents be released to Tax Analysts under a Freedom of Information Act request. | IRS |
| September 24, 1984 | loses, IRS, 1970-72. Tax Court, L. Ron Hubbard, question. IRS -, instance, tax-related material, IRS, US tax-payers' money | Scientology loses its appeal over the IRS tax assessment for the years 1970-72. The Tax Court judge documents in detail how huge sums were moved out of Scientology accounts into those of L. Ron Hubbard during the period in question. The judgement also describes the obstructionist tactics used by Scientology to thwart the IRS - for instance, deliberately jumbling two million pages of tax-related material, so that IRS officials would have to sort it out at the cost of a great deal of time and US tax-payers' money. | IRS, L. Ron Hubbard |
| August 20, 1984 | Lt. Ray Emmons, Clearwater Police Department, IRS Criminal Investigator Al Ristuccia | Lt. Ray Emmons of the Clearwater Police Department sends documents and information about Scientology to IRS Criminal Investigator Al Ristuccia. | IRS |
| August 15, 1984 | Lt. Ray Emmons, Clearwater Police Department, IRS Criminal Investigator Al Ristuccia. Emmons, inducements. IRS, Emmons' document | Lt. Ray Emmons of the Clearwater Police Department meets with IRS Criminal Investigator Al Ristuccia. Emmons outlines Scientology practices as they relate to fraudulent inurement and fraudulent inducements. The IRS investigator receives copies of some of Emmons' documents. | IRS |
| December 20, 1976 | Richard Weigand, CSW (Completed Staff Work), Henning Heldt, Project Troy, possible. (Project Troy, IRS Chief Counsel.) Heldt, Pr | Richard Weigand sends a CSW (Completed Staff Work) to Henning Heldt asking that Project Troy be approved as soon as possible. (Project Troy calls for the placement of a permanent bugging device in the office or the IRS Chief Counsel.) Heldt will approve Project Troy. | IRS |
| November 18, 1975 | Michael Meisner, Cindy Meisner | Michael Meisner sends a memo to Cindy Meisner entitled "Re: DEA FOI Case -- D of J Data -- Figley". It summarized documents stolen from the office of IRS employee Paul Figley, who was working on Freedom of Information Act requests relating to Scientology. The stolen documents were attached to Meisner's memo. | IRS, Michael Meisner |
| November 17, 1975 | Michael Meisner, Cindy Meisner | Michael Meisner sends a memo to Cindy Meisner entitled "Re: Justice Department, FOI Suits -- Figley". It summarized documents stolen from the office of IRS employee Paul Figley, who was working on Freedom of Information Act requests relating to Scientology. The stolen documents were attached to Meisner's memo. | IRS, Michael Meisner |
| June 11, 1975 | GO, IRS, Church, California. Accordingly, GO, IRS' | The GO gets wind of a major financial audit to be made by the IRS of the Church of Scientology of California. Accordingly, the GO decides to obtain as much inside information as possible on the IRS' "line of attack". Michael Meisner devises "Project Beetle Cleanup" for obtaining "all DC IRS files on LRH, Scientology, etc., in the Intelligence section, OIO [Office or International Operations], and SSS [Special Services Staff]". The project proposes the placement of "FSMs" (Field Staff members, or agents) in the "required areas or good access developed", and further that "Pitts" (the code name for Nancy Douglass - a GO agent who had infiltrated the Drug Enforcement Agency) and "Silver" (Wolfe) attempt to obtain employment at the Internal Revenue Service Intelligence Division and Office of International Operations respectively. | IRS, Michael Meisner |