One year after coming under fire for improperly targeting some Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status, the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday announced it would reconsider proposed rules regarding such groups.
Announced last year, the rules apply to groups known as 501(c)(4)s. Though the rules are supposed to inform how IRS agents review such groups when they apply for non-profit status — 501(c)(4)s are supposed to be "social welfare" organizations whose primary purpose is not politics — critics assailed them for being too vague.
While the IRS said it received a "diversity of views" regarding the proposed rules, the outcry from those on the right was by far the most vocal. All of which raises the question: After a full year of pillorying the IRS, did the Tea Party finally win?