Trump administration weighs tax crackdown on Soros network

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Internal Revenue Service could move to revoke the tax-exempt status of prominent progressive nonprofits, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF), the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), three sources familiar with the matter told The New York Post.

The effort forms part of a Trump administration crackdown on what officials describe as “bogus” charities. Treasury officials are developing a broader review of organizations suspected of abusing the tax code, with Bessent’s team drafting plans that could strip non-compliant groups of their 501(c)(3) status, potentially resulting in back taxes and civil penalties.

The initiative draws partly on a 2025 executive order signed by President Donald Trump targeting nonprofits operating with a “substantial illegal purpose.” Officials have also scrutinized groups including the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, the Athena Coalition, MediaJustice, the Strategic Organizing Center and its parent union, the SEIU, according to the sources.

One source said Treasury officials were “like a dog with a bone” and that many organizations and donors could be “on borrowed time.”

“There’s a lot of internal pressure to get it done, but some people are still moving too slowly at the IRS,” the source said. “That is expected to change very soon.”

The campaign faces legal challenges. Protect Democracy sued Treasury and the IRS earlier this year, alleging that the administration is weaponizing the tax code against political opponents and violating the First Amendment rights of progressive charities. The administration has denied no specific allegations in the account, while Treasury declined multiple requests for comment. Bessent said last October on the “Charlie Kirk Show” that work on compiling a target list had begun.

Formal revocation of 501(c)(3) status can take years because of IRS audits, administrative appeals and federal tax litigation. Potential penalties range from corrective fines to full revocation, which would subject affected organizations to the standard 21% federal corporate tax rate.

A Post analysis of 2024 IRS filings estimated that OSF, SPLC and 17 CAIR chapters would have owed about $165 million combined if taxed at that rate. OSF accounted for $163.6 million, SPLC about $354,000 and the CAIR chapters roughly $860,000.

The administration is citing controversies surrounding the organizations. OSF, chaired by Alexander Soros, funds NGOs working on diversity, climate litigation and migrant issues. An OSF spokesperson said: “Threatening any nonprofit’s tax status for political reasons would be nothing more than an illegal attempt to target and stifle work that the administration disagrees with.”

The SPLC and CAIR face separate scrutiny over allegations involving extremist or foreign ties, which both organizations have disputed. CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2007 Holy Land Foundation terrorism-financing case and denies ties to illicit foreign funding or terrorist organizations.

Tax policy professor Samuel Handwerger said actual revocation may be the least immediate risk: “If I were assessing real-world exposure for these organizations, I would rank it: bank de-risking first, donor and grantmaker chill second, examination costs third, and actual revocation a distant fourth.”

By Tamilla Hasanova