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Report cites ways for IRS to curb lavish ministries

A special commission created by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has called for clearer Internal Revenue Service guidance and greater efforts by donors to address “outliers” among congregations and other nonprofits that are not being held financially accountable.

Its 91-page report was a response to a request for recommendations from Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) after he concluded a three-year investigation into alleged lavish spending by six prominent broadcast ministries in 2011.

Among the dozens of suggestions of the interfaith commission: