A technical glitch at the understaffed Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is concealing millions of dollars in campaign contributions to state-level political groups, including key governor and attorney general races, according to a campaign finance watchdog.
The Center for Political Accountability (CPA), a non-profit that tracks corporate spending, said $51m for the second half of 2025 remains unaccounted for due to the error. Researchers noticed the discrepancy in February, when donor and spending lists from the previous year are typically made public after a 31 January deadline. However, the disclosures remain blank, with a message stating: "IRS technical issue preventing e-file reporting."
Affected groups include the Republican Attorneys General Association, the Republican State Leadership Committee and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, donations to which totalled $41m for the second half of 2025. The Republican Governors Association was also affected, with $32m in donations not itemised, though it later uploaded an amended filing.
Jeanne Hanna, vice-president of research at the CPA, noted that a similar glitch occurred last summer but was quickly fixed. "There’s been radio silence about whatever the issue is this time," she said. "It is turning into a complete black hole." The error comes after the IRS saw more than a quarter of its workforce reduced following cuts last year.
An IRS spokesperson said on 18 February that the issue had been resolved but did not respond to follow-up questions. The next filing deadline for the 527 organisations, which are tax-exempt political campaign groups, is 15 April, with no sign the error will be fixed by then.
