Finding Propaganda: How to Stop Grassroots Lobbying Costs from Slipping through the Cracks of Section 162(e)
Volume 89, No. 2, Winter 2017
This Comment explores the distinction between promoting the sale of goods and attempting to influence legislation, and focuses on that distinction in answering the question of whether advertising expenditures may appropriately be deducted under § 162(e) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Comment argues that some advertisements, while taking the form of grassroots lobbying, will still find that their costs are likely deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses under current law. The Comment then goes on to propose steps that policymakers can take to eliminate such deductibility and ensure that such communications will be treated appropriately in the future.