Among other ideas, the staff proposal would require nonprofits to file detailed information with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) every five years showing that it continues to operate for tax-exempt purposes. Both the American Bar Association's Section on Taxation (ABA) and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) said the costs of these reviews are likely to exceed the benefits. AICPA's remarks said, "In general, we support review by the IRS to ensure that exempt organizations are carrying out the purposes for which they were recognized as exempt. However, we are concerned that the five-year review proposal will require all organizations required to apply for tax-exempt status to prepare a great deal of information that the IRS will not have the resources to review." The ABA questioned whether the proposal is practical or possible, noting that over 1.6 million nonprofits would fall under the requirement. AICPA said, "We cannot commend changes that will impose financial burdens on all exempt organizations as a result of the acts of a few."
The staff proposed fees on nonprofits to pay the costs of the increased oversight. AICPA opposed this, saying, "The AICPA suggests that any increased enforcement would be better funded from the excise tax on the investment income of private foundations, which was imposed for this purpose, rather than diverting funds from the charitable uses for which they were donated."
Senate Finance Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Max Baucus (D-MT) send a letter to the Statue of Liberty Foundation seeking more information on governance issues. The committee began investigating the foundation in the spring after press reports that the foundation and National Park Service had been slow in efforts to re-open the statue after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York.