IRS audit of Greenpeace confirms non-profit status

In 2003, Public Interest Watch (a group that calls itself a watchdog of non-profit groups) wrote a letter to the Internal Revenue Service accusing Greenpeace of money laundering and other crimes. The letter accused Greenpeace of laundering $24 million in tax-deductible contributions by diverting them to a related entity that held protests against the Iraq war, an oil tanker and a nuclear-power station.

In September 2005, the IRS finally began an audit of the U.S. division of Greenpeace. Greenpeace has just received a notice from the IRS, indicating that they still qualify for exemption from federal income taxes as a non-profit.

PIW has received funding from Exxon Mobil Corp, among others. Greenpeace is known for blocking the path of oil tankers, and now the speculation about the ties between the audit and the oil giant begins.

Exxon Mobil denies any involvement in the report to the IRS.

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