American Legion: IRS Demands Military Records for All Members

A new IRS policy is targeting American veterans' organization with threats of stiff fines if the groups do not report on the service records of all their members, the Daily Caller reports.

The new audit guidelines requires the veteran groups to "maintain dates of service and character of service records for all members … The penalty for not having the required proof of eligibility is, apparently, $1,000 per day," according to the American Legion.

The new guidelines are enforced by the same internal IRS bureau once lead by Lois Lerner, whose leadership of the office created a scandal by targeting conservative and tea party groups and is now under investigation by Congress.

"The American Legion has recently learned of the so-called IRS 'audit manual' and is concerned that portions of it attempt to amend statutes passed by Congress and approved by the president," said Philip Onderdonk, Jr., the American Legion's lawyer.

The American Legion will take up the issue during its national convention in Houston this week and decide whether to pursue the matter through the courts or Congress, where at least one lawmaker has already come to the organization's defense.

"On the heels of Americans' anger over revelations that the IRS intentionally targeted certain groups, it has been brought to my attention that the IRS is now turning their sights toward our nation's veterans," said Sen. Jerry Moran, Kansas Republican.

"The IRS seems to be auditing veteran service organizations by requiring private member military service forms," Moran said