WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Internal Revenue Service reinstated the tax-exempt status of the Zionist Organization of America.
“The work of the ZOA has never been altered or diminished one iota during this period,” ZOA President Morton Klein said in a statement Monday announcing the May 15 IRS decision. “Our campus work; our Title VI efforts; our Capitol Hill work; our writings, lectures, TV and radio appearances have continued as always.”
The IRS a year ago rescinded the tax-exempt status because ZOA had not filed a tax return for three consecutive years.
Klein told JTA last year that the failures to file were due to confusion over the status of a school in Israel run under ZOA auspices, and because of erroneous advice from a tax accountant.
Donations to ZOA have remained deductible in the meantime, as they were directed through a third party donor-advised fund.
In the same announcement, ZOA said its annual dinner, to be held in November, will honor casino magnate and philanthropist Sheldon Adelson. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, now a talk show personality, will speak at the event, which is chaired by James Tisch.
ZOA canceled its annual dinner in 2012.
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