IRS: Hawaii Family Forum Must Pay Tax Penalties For Being a Lobbying Group In Disguise

The Christian non-profit Hawaii Family Forum must fork over $20,741 in unpaid taxes for “excessive lobbying” after the IRS concluded, following a complaint from Hawaii Citizens For The Separation of State and Church, the group does not engage in charitable activists, but rather is a lobbying organization — something 501(c)(3) groups are explicitly barred from being, as they may not endorse political candidates nor use more than 20 percent of their budget for lobbying. The group used half of its budget to do just that. And what, exactly, did the Hawaii Family Forum spend 2009 lobbying against? Oh, just the legal recognition of same-sex civil unions.