IRS move to revoke tax-exempt status would be 'unlawful', says Harvard

By Janet Lorin

 

Harvard University pushed back after President Donald Trump said the school should lose its tax-exempt status and several outlets reported that the IRS is considering the issue, escalating a feud between the federal government and America’s richest university. 

 

“There is no legal basis to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status,” university spokesman Jason Newton said in a statement late Wednesday, adding that doing so would harm Harvard’s medical research efforts and reduce its ability to provide financial aid for students.

 

With a $53 billion endowment, Harvard has emerged as the highest-profile university to contest Trump’s attempts to force sweeping changes on higher education. The administration has already canceled $400 million in federal money to Columbia University and frozen dozens of research contracts at Princeton, Cornell and Northwestern universities.

 

While Harvard’s rebuke sparked cheers from Democrats and many Harvard alumni, including former President Barack Obama, the university’s resistance has come at a cost. 

 

A government task force on antisemitism said late Monday that it plans to freeze $2.2 billion of multiyear grants. US agencies previously said they are reviewing about $9 billion of grants and contracts to the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school. 

 

On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she was canceling two grants worth $2.7 million, and demanding records relating to foreign student visa holders and what she described as “illegal and violent activities.”

 

“Harvard bending the knee to antisemitism — driven by its spineless leadership — fuels a cesspool of extremist riots and threatens our national security,” Noem said in a statement.

 

In a later post on his Truth Social platform, the president said the university “should no longer receive Federal Funds.” Trump then raised the stakes further when he floated the idea that Harvard should lose its tax exempt status. 

 

Media outlets including CNN and the New York Times on Wednesday reported the administration has asked the IRS to begin a process that would result in Harvard losing its tax-exempt status, which most American universities have. The White House hasn’t yet formally confirmed it’s pursuing the IRS path, which would almost certainly face legal challenges. 

 

An administration official, who asked not to be identified, said the White House views the university’s actions as a violation of its tax exempt status.

 

Read: Harvard Built a Shock-Proof Balance Sheet That Trump Now Tests

 

Newton said the federal scrutiny, including funding cuts and the threat to its tax status, “follows on the heels of our statement that Harvard will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights.” 

 

“We will continue to comply with the law and expect the Administration to do the same,” Newton said.