In an earlier post, we discussed how Section 7217 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) prohibits the President, among others, from requesting the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to conduct an audit or directing the IRS to terminate the exemption of a tax-exempt organization.
Shortly after President Trump first “confirmed that he was potentially seeking to pull Harvard’s tax-exempt status“, the IRS was reportedly “weighing whether to revoke Harvard’s tax exemption, according to three people familiar with the matter“. The timing and circumstances were suspicious, but …
Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, said the I.R.S.’s scrutiny of Harvard began before the president’s social media post.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/us/politics/trump-irs-harvard.html
If such statement is accurate, the follow-up question is: How did the White House and President Trump know that the IRS was scrutinizing Harvard’s tax-exempt status? IRC Section 6103 suggests that the IRS agents auditing Harvard must keep such information confidential, and there is no exception for disclosing such confidential information to the President. The next question is: Why is President Trump sharing the confidential information about this audit with the public?
On May 2, President Trump made a more definitive statement on Truth Social: “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status.” On May 7, he “floated that he might push for a review of the tax-exempt status of every university where the White House deems antisemitism out of control.”
Something’s wrong here.
Section 6103
IRC Section 6103(a) provides in pertinent part:
Returns and return information shall be confidential, and except as authorized by this title—
… no officer or employee of the United States … shall disclose any return or return information obtained by him in any manner in connection with his service as such an officer or an employee or otherwise or under the provisions of this section. For purposes of this subsection, the term “officer or employee” includes a former officer or employee.
IRC Section 6103(g), which describes an exception for disclosure to the President and certain other persons provides in pertinent part:
Upon written request by the President, signed by him personally, the Secretary shall furnish to the President, or to such employee or employees of the White House Office as the President may designate by name in such request, a return or return information with respect to any taxpayer named in such request. Any such request shall state— … the specific reason why the inspection or disclosure is requested.
Background
The Committee Report for the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCX-3-19) – Background Regarding the Confidentiality and Disclosure of Federal Tax Returns – includes the following provisions on the background and purpose of Section 6103:
Disclosure law prior to 1976
…
Although returns were classified as public records throughout this period, the President, through executive order and by Treasury regulations approved by his appointees, controlled access to returns and return information other than the access specifically permitted by statute, such as to Congress or to State officers. … However, perceived executive branch overreach during the 1970s, as described below, led Congress to re-examine tax return confidentiality and disclosure.
1976 Reforms to Section 6103
Congressional interest and inquiries during the 1970s brought out allegations regarding impropriety on the part of the White House regarding return information. For example, the Watergate hearings revealed that White House Counsel John Dean had sought to use the IRS to harass political “enemies.” In addition, a former special consultant to President Kennedy received tax returns in 1961 while conducting investigations for the White House. This publicity regarding possible misuse of return information on the part of the executive branch helped provide impetus for the 1976 Act changes to the disclosure rules. …
Present law
Section 6103 sets forth the general rule that returns and return information are confidential and cannot be disclosed unless authorized by specific exceptions under the Code. Criminal and civil sanctions apply to the unauthorized disclosure of returns and return information by Federal officers or employees and other persons. Section 6103 also imposes recordkeeping and safeguard requirements to protect the confidentiality of returns and return information.
Under section 6103, a “return” is defined to include any tax or information return, declaration of estimated tax, or claim for refund required by, or provided for, or permitted under the provisions of the Code, that is filed with the IRS. A “return” encompasses any amendment or supplement to the filed return, including any supporting schedules, attachments, or lists which are supplemental to, or part of, the filed return.
“Return information” includes a taxpayer’s identity, the nature, source, or amount of his income, payments, receipts, deductions, exemptions, credits, assets, liabilities, net worth, tax liability, tax withheld, deficiencies, overassessments, or tax payments. Information as to whether a taxpayer’s return was, is being, or will be examined is also considered return information. Further, the definition of return information broadly includes any other data, received by, recorded by, prepared by, furnished to, or collected by the Secretary with respect to a return or with respect to the determination of the existence, or possible existence, of liability (or the amount thereof) of any person under the Code for any tax, penalty, interest, fine, forfeiture, or other imposition, or offense.
…
If the President requests a return or return information under section 6103 (g), he must file a quarterly report with the Joint Committee on Taxation setting forth the taxpayer, the return or return information involved, and the reason for the request. [Sec. 6103 (g)(5).]
Possible Violations of Section 6103
There may have been two violations of Section 6103 – the first by some person or persons at the IRS who leaked to President Trump the existence of an examination of Harvard’s tax-exemption and the second by President Trump or someone from his administration for disclosing that confidential information to the public. However, the second possible violation may not have been a violation of Section 6103 if the IRS had not yet examined Harvard’s tax-exemption before the President threatened to revoke it. In such case, the President’s threat would seem to be a likely violation of IRC Section 7217.
Additional Resources
Can Trump strip Harvard of its charitable status? Scholars of nonprofit law and accounting describe the obstacles in his way (Philip Hackney and Brian Mittendorf, The Conversation)