The NRA owes the IRS $ 3.four million in taxes and fines

The National Rifle Association owes an estimated $ 3.4 million in taxes and fines to the Internal Revenue Service, according to the gun group’s bankruptcy proceedings.

This number represents the largest bankruptcy claim ever made in a bankruptcy court in Texas. And it suggests that the IRS is putting additional scrutiny on the NRA, which the agency regulates based on the group’s not-for-profit status.

The IRS is targeting over $ 1.1 million in excise tax on payments made by the NRA between 2014 and 2018, according to the agency dated Feb. 9. Excise taxes can be levied on nonprofits as a penalty for prohibited transactions, said Philip Hackney, former IRS attorney and associate law professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. However, Hackney said the filing lacked the necessary details to determine what type of excise tax the IRS had applied.

Hackney noted that the IRS is targeting the same amount of excise duty of $ 226,267 each year for 2014-2018, suggesting the levy is related to a single repeat item.

“It clearly shows that the IRS has investigated the NRA,” he said of the filing. “It appears that the IRS has budgeted a certain amount and the NRA is denying that amount.”

The NRA hasn’t paid more than $ 1.7 million in wage taxes this year, according to records, but Hackney said it was likely the group duly withheld those payments.

The filing does not list any taxes or penalties imposed on individual NRA executives, Hackney said. As The Trace reported in November, the NRA admitted in its most recent annual tax return that its assets were not properly diverted to pay for the travel, food and entertainment costs of leading companies. As a penalty, the IRS may impose an excise tax on the value of these improperly paid services. For example, on its tax return, the NRA reported that executive director Wayne LaPierre had repaid the gun group $ 300,000 for benefits he received from 2015 to 2019 and that he personally owed the IRS an estimated $ 75,000 in fines.

When it announced its bankruptcy plan last month, the NRA stated that its finances were solid and that the purpose of the move was to resolve litigation and reorganize in Texas, where the group has powerful allies in the state government. The NRA is chartered in New York State and has accused leaders of political vengeance against the gun group.

In August, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the NRA detailing possible violations by the organization and individual executives, including LaPierre, of federal tax law. When she filed her lawsuit to disband the weapons group, James referred her findings to the IRS. In October, the Wall Street Journal reported that the IRS is investigating LaPierre for tax fraud related to his personal taxes.

Neither the NRA nor LaPierre’s attorney immediately responded to requests for comment. An IRS spokesman said the agency cannot comment on matters that involve individual taxpayers.