Not Just The Tea Party: IRS Targeted & Turned Down Tax Exempt Status Tied To Open Source Software

...Those BOLO (“be on the lookout”) lists? The ones which were circulated to alert IRS employees evaluating tax exempt organization applications as to specific phrases that might signal a non-exempt purpose? Sure, they were chock full of words like “tea party” and “patriot.” But that wasn’t all. They also included “healthcare legislation,” “medical marijuana,” and “open source software” (2010 redacted BOLO list downloads as a pdf).

Wait… Open source software?  Yes, it seems that the IRS has it out for open source software. The 2010 BOLO list included “open source software” as a significant watch issue, noting “There is no specific guidance at this point. If you see a case, elevate it to your manager.”  And that’s apparently what happened to the Yorba Foundation which, nearly five years after making application to the IRS for tax-exempt status, received a letter denying their request (downloads as a pdf).

Yorba describes itself on its website as “developers of great Linux desktop software.” Their projects include Shotwell photo organizer, Geary email reader, Valencia edit plugin for Vala and gexiv2 GObject wrapper around Exiv2. I’m not going to lie to you, I don’t know what that means either. It might help to read the IRS’ description of Yorba: “you develop software published under open source compatible licenses that authorize use by any person for any purpose.”...