From Staff Reports

Several dozen members of the Asheville Tea Party showed up May 21 in front of the IRS Office to protsst what they termed “the IRS abuse of power.”

Moreover, the proest was “to affirm Asheville Tea Party’s  support of the Fair Tax that will eliminate the out-of-control IRS,” the ATP noted.

The ATP joined with other citizen groups across the nation for a national day of protest of the IRS’ unfair treatment of conservative groups.

“Asheville Tea Party Incorporated has been one such group that was repeatedly told since 2012 that we were not a tax exempt organization, a 501 (c) 3,” ATP Chairwoman Jane Bilello noted in a press release. 

“Losing our tax-exempt status affects donations. We were told that we would have to file again as a 501 (c.) 4, but the paperwork never came, which added to the frustration of filing our 2012 tax return,” she said.

Further, Bilello asserted, “ATP supports government fiscal responsibility and accountability as required by the Constitution of our free Republic,”