Bill to Cloak U.S. 'Dark Money' Seen as Harmful to Charity Fraud Fight

Fighting charity fraud could become more difficult under a Republican bill in Congress to prohibit the IRS from collecting the names of top donors to charities and other nonprofit groups, critics warned on Tuesday.

Meant to protect the privacy of wealthy individuals who make anonymous, or "dark money," donations to politically active nonprofit groups, the bill would eliminate a decades-old IRS donor-identity disclosure requirement for a range of tax-exempt groups that includes hospitals, universities, and community and sports organizations.

Backers of the legislation say donor lists have sometimes been disclosed to the public even though the names and addresses are supposed to be private.