IRS reportedly planning to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Probably illegal move against US’s richest university is latest in Trump’s attack on independence of higher education
Thu 17 Apr 2025 11.26 EDT
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reportedly planning to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status in what would be a probably illegal move amid Donald Trump’s concerted attack on the independence of US institutions of higher education.
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“Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” the US president said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The Trump administration asked the top attorney at the IRS, the US federal tax agency, to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status, the Washington Post further reported. It is illegal for the president to direct the IRS to conduct an investigation or audit.
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Addressing reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump called Harvard a “disgrace” and “obviously antisemitic”. He said it was his understanding that no final decision had been made yet regarding its tax-exempt status.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/17/harvard-tax-exempt-status-trump-irs
This is just a test case for the very clearly laid out steps in Project 2025 re taking control of higher ed. Authoritarians always target education. No way this upholds in the courts. Even if the IRS revokes Harvard's 501c3 status, Harvard’s will get an injunction and stay the revocation for years.
William A. Burck is a top litigator with heavy conservative bone fides. So is Robert Hur, who was special counsel investigating President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents.
The legal team began having sporadic conversations, but not serious negotiations with the task force, which was driving the demands to the university. The lawyers went back and forth with the task-force members, discussing potential concessions such as a mask ban and winding down of diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in admissions and faculty hiring.
Things quickly devolved starting late Friday, however, when Harvard received a five-page letter detailing the administration’s demands. Burck and Hur drafted the university’s response.
“Harvard is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration,” the letter said. Shortly after, the federal task force to combat antisemitism froze more than $2 billion in research grants.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/harvard-lawyers-william-burck-robert-hur-trump-10ee5255
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