President Trump said on Friday that Harvard would lose its tax-exempt status, repeating his intent to enlist the Internal Revenue Service in his feud with the wealthy research university and upend the school’s finances.
“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Mr. Trump wrote on social media.
It was not immediately clear if the I.R.S. was in fact moving forward with revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status, a change that could only typically occur after a lengthy process. Federal law prohibits the president from directing the I.R.S. to conduct tax investigations, and I.R.S. employees who receive such a command are required to report it to an inspector general.
After Mr. Trump first publicly called for Harvard to lose its tax exemption last month, White House officials said that the I.R.S. would make its own conclusion about whether to do so.
Spokespeople for the I.R.S. and Treasury Department, which oversees the tax collector, did not respond to a request for comment. A Harvard spokesperson said in a statement that there was “no legal basis to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status” and that “such an unprecedented action would endanger our ability to carry out our educational mission.”
With its tax-exempt status, Harvard not only does not have to pay most taxes, but donors can write off gifts to the school on their own tax returns. Losing the status would not only force Harvard to start paying tax to the federal government but could cause donations to dry up.
The intensifying standoff between the Trump administration and Harvard is part of a broad pressure campaign by the administration against some of the nation’s most elite universities.
The Trump administration has painted many top U.S. schools as hotbeds of antisemitism and discrimination that require federal intervention.
In recent weeks, Harvard has taken a decidedly confrontational posture toward the Trump administration. The university rejected a roster of demands from the government, including that it submit to audits, alter its admissions and hiring policies and bring in an outsider to examine “those programs and departments that most fuel antisemitic harassment or reflect ideological capture.”
After the administration froze more than $2 billion in federal funds in retaliation for Harvard’s defiance, the university sued.
Alan Blinder contributed reporting.
