什么是免税资格？美国国税局可以撤销哈佛的免税资格吗？
【中美创新时报2025年5月2日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）与许多学院和慈善机构一样，该大学免征联邦所得税和财产税，从而节省了数十亿美元。特朗普总统质疑该大学是否应该享有这一地位。《纽约时报》记者马修·姆波克·比格和约翰·尹对此作了下述报道。
与许多美国大学和慈善机构一样，哈佛大学享有联邦免税待遇，这是美国国税局授予的一项待遇，使得这所富裕的常春藤盟校每年可以免缴数亿美元的税款。
据三位知情人士透露，美国国税局目前正在考虑是否取消哈佛大学的免税资格，因为特朗普政府要求该大学改变其招聘、招生和课程政策。
特朗普总统公开呼吁哈佛大学纳税，由于哈佛大学拒绝屈服于政府的压力，他的政府削减了22亿美元的联邦拨款。周五，他再次提出这个问题，并在社交媒体网站上发帖称：“我们将取消哈佛大学的免税资格。这是他们应得的！”但他没有透露细节。
以下是关于免税资格的知识：
什么是免税资格？
免税资格允许组织不根据《国内税收法典》第501(c)(3)条缴纳联邦所得税和财产税，这意味着向该机构的捐款可以免税。
根据美国国税局的规定，符合条件的组织包括那些以“慈善、宗教、教育、科学、文学、公共安全测试、促进国家或国际业余体育竞赛以及防止虐待儿童或动物”为宗旨的组织。
美国国税局对任何申请免税资格的组织都施加了诸多限制。根据《国内税收法典》，该组织的任何收益均不得流向私人股东或个人；该组织影响立法的能力受到限制，并且不得参与竞选活动或支持政治候选人。
为什么哈佛大学和其他大学都宣称这一点？
简而言之，免税资格可以节省资金并提升信誉。它还能帮助吸引那些寻求大额捐赠的富人。
美国大学协会表示，各机构必须向美国国税局申请免税，绝大多数大学都这样做。该协会表示，这是因为它们的教育目的“长期以来被联邦政府视为培养公民生产能力和公民能力的根本” 。
美国国税局可以撤销免税资格吗？
美国国税局负责确定哪些组织符合免税资格标准。该机构有时会撤销其免税资格，包括在审计发现其政治或商业活动违反资格条件后。
福特汉姆大学法学院专门研究非营利法的教授 Gowri Krishna 表示，过去，美国国税局曾对共和党和民主党政府执政期间的教育机构和其他机构的免税政策提出质疑。
一个著名的例子是南卡罗来纳州鲍勃·琼斯大学，这所基督教原教旨主义大学曾禁止跨种族约会。1983年，最高法院就该大学歧视性政策一案作出裁决，使其失去了免税资格。该大学声称美国国税局侵犯了其宗教自由。该大学于2000年解除了禁令，并于2017年表示已恢复免税资格。
但美国国税局很少会撤销教育机构的免税资格。税法也赋予各机构对该机构不利决定提出上诉的权利。
该机构表示，每年都会收到来自公众、国会议员、州和联邦政府机构以及内部人士的投诉，指控其滥用免税资格。但联邦法律禁止总统或其他行政部门高级官员直接或间接要求国税局调查或审计特定机构。
白宫发言人哈里森·菲尔兹表示，在总统公开呼吁哈佛大学纳税之前，美国国税局就开始对哈佛大学进行审查。
哈佛大学在4月份发表的一份声明中表示，取消其免税资格没有任何法律依据。任何试图剥夺哈佛大学免税资格的行为都可能面临法律挑战，税务和法律专家预计这种挑战将会成功。
“哈佛大学会辩称，这侵犯了其言论自由和学术自由，”克里希纳女士说。“我认为政府获胜的可能性极小。”
如果哈佛大学失去免税地位会发生什么？
哈佛大学表示，失去免税资格将导致学生经济援助减少、重要医学研究被放弃以及失去其他创新机会。
彭博新闻社在一项分析中估计，哈佛大学2023年的税收优惠总额至少达到4.65亿美元。该校还间接受益于捐赠者捐款获得的税收减免。哈佛大学报告称，在2024财年，其已收到超过5.25亿美元的可立即使用的捐款。
哈佛大学表示，取消其免税政策也将对整个高等教育产生“严重后果”。
在哈佛大学与特朗普政府的争议中试图改变其免税地位将严重侵犯美国国税局的独立性，因为美国国税局的成立初衷是免受政治压力的影响。
题图：一面美国国旗在哈佛大学的约翰·哈佛雕像上方飘扬。特朗普总统呼吁美国国税局取消哈佛大学的免税地位。图源…索菲·帕克为《纽约时报》撰稿
附原英文报道：
What Is Tax-Exempt Status and Can the I.R.S. Revoke It From Harvard?
The university, like many colleges and charities, is exempt from federal income and property taxes, saving it billions of dollars. President Trump has questioned whether it should enjoy that status.
An American flag flies over the John Harvard statue at Harvard University.
President Trump has called for the I.R.S. to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status.Credit…Sophie Park for The New York Times
By Matthew Mpoke Bigg and John Yoon
May 2, 2025, 9:32 a.m. ET
Harvard, like many American colleges and charities, enjoys a federal tax exemption, a status granted by the Internal Revenue Service that allows the wealthy Ivy League university to forgo paying perhaps hundreds of millions of dollars a year in taxes.
The I.R.S. is now weighing whether to revoke Harvard’s tax exemption, according to three people familiar with the matter, as the Trump administration demands that the university make changes to its hiring, admissions and curriculum policies.
President Trump has called publicly for Harvard to pay taxes, and his administration cut $2.2 billion in federal funding to the university after it refused to submit to the administration’s pressure campaign. He raised the issue again on Friday, posting on his social media site: “We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” He did not offer details.
Here’s what to know about tax-exempt status:
What is tax-exempt status?
Tax-exempt status allows an organization not to pay federal income and property taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which means that donations to the institution are tax-deductible.
Eligible organizations include those whose purpose is “charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition and preventing cruelty to children or animals,” according to the I.R.S.
The I.R.S. places a number of restrictions on any organization claiming tax-exempt status. Under the Internal Revenue Code, none of the organization’s earnings can go to a private shareholder or individual; the organization is limited in its ability to influence legislation and it cannot participate in a campaign or support political candidates.
Why do Harvard and other universities claim it?
Simply put, tax-exempt status saves money and can boost credibility. It can also help attract wealthy individuals seeking to donate large sums.
Institutions must apply to the I.R.S. for tax exemption, and a vast majority of universities do so, according to the Association of American Universities. This is because of their educational purpose, which “the federal government has long recognized as fundamental to fostering the productive and civic capacities of citizens,” the association says.
Can the I.R.S. revoke tax-exempt status?
The I.R.S. determines which organizations meet the criteria for tax-exempt status. The agency has at times revoked tax-exempt status, including after audits that found political or commercial activities that violated the terms of eligibility.
In the past, the I.R.S. has challenged the tax exemptions of educational and other institutions under both Republican and Democratic administrations, according to Gowri Krishna, a professor at Fordham University School of Law who specializes in nonprofit law.
In one well-known example, Bob Jones University in South Carolina, a fundamentalist Christian institution that had banned interracial dating, lost its tax-exempt status over its discriminatory policies in a case that the Supreme Court ruled on in 1983. The university had claimed that the I.R.S. had violated its religious liberty. The university lifted the ban in 2000, and said in 2017 that it had regained its tax-exempt status.
But it is rare for the I.R.S. to revoke the tax-exempt status of an educational institution. Tax laws also provide organizations the right to appeal an adverse decision by the agency.
The agency says that it receives complaints claiming abuse of tax-exempt status every year from the public, members of Congress, state and federal government agencies and internal sources. But federal law bars the president or other senior officials of the executive branch from directly or indirectly requesting that the I.R.S. investigate or audit specific organizations.
Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, said that the I.R.S. began scrutinizing Harvard before the president’s public call for Harvard to pay taxes.
In a statement issued in April, Harvard said that there was no legal basis for rescinding its tax status. Any attempt to take away Harvard’s tax exemption would be likely to face a legal challenge, which tax and legal experts expect would be successful.
“Harvard would argue there’s a violation of its free speech and academic freedom,” Ms. Krishna said. “I think it would be highly, highly unlikely that the government would win.”
What would happen if Harvard lost its tax-exempt status?
Harvard has said that losing its tax exemption would result in the reduction of financial aid for students, the abandonment of important medical research and the loss of other opportunities for innovation.
Bloomberg News estimated in an analysis that Harvard’s tax benefits totaled at least $465 million in 2023. The university also indirectly benefits from the tax deduction that its donors receive from making contributions. In the 2024 fiscal year, Harvard reported that it had collected more than $525 million in donations that could be used immediately.
Rescinding Harvard’s tax exemption would also have “grave consequences” for higher education in general, the university said.
And an attempt to change Harvard’s tax-exempt status amid its dispute with the Trump administration would amount to a severe breach of the independence of the I.R.S., which was established to be insulated from political pressure.
