April Fools’ Joke Raises Alarms for Some Social-Welfare Groups

A journalist’s April Fools’ gag about a would-be Internal Revenue Service crackdown on politically active nonprofit groups caused a minor ripple of concern among social-welfare organizations, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Paul Streckfus, editor of Exempt Organization Tax Journal, posted an item Monday jokingly reporting that Steven Miller, acting IRS commissioner, told a news conference that dozens of nonprofit groups running donation operations for candidates would be referred to the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, supposedly saying, “Those folks are going to learn if you fib on the 990 or 1024, you’re going to do time.”

The post prompted one lawyer to send out a warning to associates involved in fundraising, according to the Journal, and the IRS fielded phone calls on the issue. “One of my readers must have put it in general circulation,” Mr. Streckfus said of the joke post. “Usually it’s just us exempt-organization nerds.”