Complaint: Walmart violates tax status

WASHINGTON – Community groups from around the country have joined in a complaint filed last week with the Internal Revenue Service against Walmart Foundation, alleging that the foundation violated its tax-exempt status by using grants to generate support for store expansions in Massachusetts and other areas, Boston Business Journal reported.

Donations from the Walmart Foundation “skyrocketed” in certain cities where there was controversy about a Walmart expansion, the complaint alleges. Among the cities named in the IRS complaint are Boston; New York; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles.

In Boston, the complaint alleges, Walmart sought to open stores in the area in 2011. Walmart announced plans for a Somerville store that year and, the next year, the retailer leased space in Watertown, according to the complaint. However, later in 2012, Walmart abandoned plans for Somerville and Watertown after the communities made their opposition clear, the complaint alleges.

Donations from the foundation to nonprofit organizations in those communities rose slightly in 2011, increased more in 2012 and then trickled off when Walmart opted against Watertown and Somerville locations, the complaint said. •

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