Trump Orders IRS to Draw Up Plans to Rescind Harvard’s Tax-Exempt Status
The Trump administration is turning up the heat on Harvard University.
According to a report from CNN, the Trump administration has ordered the Internal Revenue Service to draw up plans to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status.
The move could potentially cost Harvard billions of dollars a year, threatening its status as one of the world’s leading academic institutions.
Gary Shapley, recently appointed by Trump as acting commissioner of the IRS, holds the legal authority to revoke an organization’s tax-exempt status. Such action is usually taken after the agency concludes that the group has breached federal guidelines that regulate nonprofit entities.
Tax-exempt organizations risk losing that status if they engage in prohibited activities, including certain forms of political involvement.
A final decision is expected in the coming days.
On Tuesday, Trump ordered the the freezing of approximately $2.3 billion in federal funding to the university over its non-compliance with directives on abolishing DEI and race-based admissions as well as its refusal to crack down on campus antisemitism.