Don't Mess With Taxes

You win some. You lose some. That's how it went last week at my other tax blog.

The winners were higher-income taxpayers who found ways to avoid paying tax when they filed their 2008 returns. It's no surprise that they used the same technique that lower-paid (and corporate) filers did and do: taking every available tax break.

On the losing side were around 275,000 nonprofit organizations that had their tax-exempt status revoked by the IRS. Among the big names that showed up on the IRS no-longer-eligible list were several branches of AARP and the National Organization for Women.

On the list of Texas groups that now can't accept donations is Texas Magic, which makes me sad simply because of the name. Also gone in the eyes of the IRS is the Anti-Crime Commission, which makes me worried.

But the Lone Star State group that really got my attention was something called Professional Football Players, which lists a Dallas address. I know the Cowboys have played like a charity case the last few years, but….

You can check out the full revocation of tax-exempt status list by state in either PDF or spreadsheet format.

And you can check out my other tax blog's posts at Bankrate each Tuesday and Thursday.

Related posts:

• High-income filers avoiding tax, too
• 51 percent of American households paid no income taxes in 2009
• Tax rules for charitable giving
• Deductions demand documentation
• Last week at my other tax blog Archives Page

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