501(c)3 / 501(c)4 Website Content

Issues: Free Speech Rights of Nonprofits

The IRS issued a Technical Advice Memorandum (TAM) that offers some insight into the IRS's view on the extent of separation needed between website content of a 501(c)(3) and its affiliated 501(c)(4). Specifically, the IRS determined that a 501(c)(3) public charity impermissibly intervened in a political campaign by including on its website partisan content from its affiliated 501(c)(4) organization.

This ruling comes less than a year after an internal IRS memorandum issued July 28, 2008 that describes how revenue agents, when examining cases involving alleged campaign intervention by 501(c)(3) organizations, should treat Internet activities. 

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