Washington Post and CNN Trump reportedly moved forward with the threat.
Citing three unnamed people familiar with the situation, the Post said the Treasury had asked the IRS’ top lawyer to take Harvard’s tax exemption. The exemption means there is no federal income tax on income from donations to the university and investments in funds of more than $50 billion.
Also, on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem said she was. $2.7 million cancelled in Harvard grant. She also requests “a detailed record of Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal activities and violent activities” by April 30, or the university will lose certification of its Student and Exchange Visitor Program, which will prevent foreign students from registering. Harvard has it Approximately 6,800 international studentsabout 27% of registrations.
A White House and IRS spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday night.
In a statement, Harvard University spokesman Jason Newton said there is “no legal basis for rescinding Harvard’s tax-free status.”
“Unprecedented actions like this will put our ability to carry out our educational mission at stake. It will be a loss of financial aid for students, abandonment of important medical research programs, and a loss of opportunities for innovation,” Newton added. “The illegal use of this instrument will become more widely illegal, and will have serious consequences for the future of higher education in America.”
James Repetti, a law professor at Boston University, said losing his tax-free status was “devastating for Harvard.”
“Their income is taxable and donations to Harvard are no longer tax-deductible,” he said. “One of the incentives for people to contribute to Harvard is that it will be very difficult for them because it reduces their tax liability.”
John Koskinen, who served as IRS commissioner under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, condemned the move, saying it would likely stand judicial review.
“It’s troubling for the administration and the president to effectively instruct the IRS to look into this,” he said.
Law of 1998 It makes it illegal for either the President, Vice President or employee to “request, directly or indirectly, an officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of a particular taxpayer regarding such taxpayer’s tax obligations.”
Koskinen said directing the IRS to revoke Harvard’s tax-free status would violate that law.
He and other experts said the university’s tax exemption was only revoked in 1976 when it filed a lawsuit against Bob Jones University, a private Christian facility in South Carolina, against Bob Jones University, which had a policy that bans students from interracial dating. The Supreme Court upheld the IRS case in 1983.
“I don’t think the president or vice president should choose an institution they dislike by threatening tax-exempt status or requesting an audit,” Massachusetts president Richard Neal said. He is a top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees the IRS.
In response to Trump’s threat, Former Harvard President Larry Summers posted on X On Tuesday, “Threatening the use of tax systems against your enemies is from a dictatorial regime like Putin. Shame.”
Lawrence Gibbs, who served as IRS commissioner under President Ronald Reagan, said it is not uncommon for an elected official of either party to ask the IRS to cancel tax exemptions from certain organizations, but the final decision is traditionally left to the IRS alone.
“What’s somewhat unusual is having politicians who, although there are precedents, are trying to influence the Internal Revenue Service on whether to consider the request or whether to cancel the exemption,” Gibbs said Wednesday night.
That precedent came under Nixon. Gibbs said he had never received such a request from the Reagan White House during his time as an IRS commissioner. If such a request was met, he said he introduced it to the IRS’s tax-free wing.
If the IRS takes action against Harvard, the university has several means of appeal, starting with the institution’s own process, Koskinen said.
“The stay is usually enforced until the case is resolved,” he said. “Obviously, there is a right to oppose an agency’s arbitrary decision, especially one that has been decided illegally by the President, so we will not lose our tax-exempt status overnight without warning.”
The White House bolstered its fight against Harvard after violating the administration’s demands. On Monday night, the Trump administration frozen $2.2 billion in federal funding for universities.
Asked about the tax threats on Tuesday, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt introduced the reporter to the IRS. However, she also accused Harvard of what she called illegal harassment and discrimination against Jewish students.
“Unfortunately, Harvard doesn’t take the president or the administration’s demands seriously. All presidents ask. [is] Don’t break federal laws. That way you’ll get federal funding,” she said.
Leavitt also suggested that Harvard should not receive that much federal funding in the first place.
“I think the president is also asking good questions. When they have more than $50 billion in donations, they’re stealing more than $2 billion from the door to Harvard,” Leavitt said. “Why do American taxpayers subsidize universities that already have billions of dollars in banks? And we certainly shouldn’t fund places where such serious anti-Semitism exists.”
Lepetti of Boston University said Harvard’s tax-free status should not be revoked.
The university “does everything that is consistent with the underlying theoretical basis for exempting non-profit educational institutions from income tax,” Repetti said. “I think it’s shocking to see us in our country’s history that we have to actually see them threatening something like this. …It’s a very sad moment for our country.”
Mike Damiano, a glove staff member, contributed to this report.
Jim Puzzanghera can be contacted at jim.puzzanghera@globe.com. Follow him @jimpuzzanghera. You can access Nick Stoico at Nick.stoico@globe.com. Tonya Alanez can be contacted at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
