American Legion suspects it was targeted by IRS

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American Legion suspects it was targeted by IRS

Will vets group be fined over data?

The American Legion is raising concerns about also being a victim of IRS targeting, prompting a Republican senator to demand answers from the agency.

The veterans’ service group says it recently learned about a so-called IRS “audit manual” that requires American Legion posts to keep dates of service and member records or perhaps face a $1,000-a-day fine, according to The Daily Caller.

The concerns follow revelations this spring that the IRS flagged Tea Party groups for additional auditing when they were seeking tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012.

The additional American Legion auditing appears to be the jurisdiction of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations Division, which oversaw the Tea Party flagging under Director Lois Lerner, who is now on paid administrative leave after invoking her Fifth Amendment rights during a congressional hearing on the issue.

“On the heels of Americans’ anger over revelations that the IRS intentionally targeted certain groups, it has been brought to my attention that the IRS is now turning its sights toward our nation’s veterans,” Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran said this weekend. “This policy seems to be crafted with the oversight of Lois Lerner and deserves, at a minimum, a thorough look.

Moran also said he will contact acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel  to make certain the agency is not “overstepping bounds of privacy and respect for our nation’s heroes.”

The IRS did not immediately respond Saturday for a request for comment.

American Legion lawyer Philip Onderdonk, Jr. told The Daily Caller the group is concerned that the manual attempts to amend statutes passed by Congress and approved by the president.

He also said American Legion members are scheduled to vote at their annual national convention this week on whether to further pursue the matter legally.