President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he plans to revoke Harvard University’s tax-exempt status, escalating his administration’s growing battle with elite academic institutions and signalling yet another potential legal showdown with the Ivy League school.
“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump wrote on his social media platform, without offering a timeline or legal basis for the move.
The announcement drew swift backlash from Harvard, which called the move “unlawful and unprecedented.” In a statement, the university said, “There is no legal basis to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status. The unlawful use of this instrument more broadly would have grave consequences for the future of higher education in America.” The school also warned that revoking its tax benefits would jeopardise funding for scholarships, medical research, and technology development critical to economic growth.
Under US federal law, universities like Harvard are generally exempt from income taxes because they are considered to be operating exclusively for public educational purposes. Importantly, the president does not have the legal authority to direct the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate or strip any organisation of tax-exempt status. The IRS has not responded to Trump’s statement or confirmed any such action.
Trump’s remarks are the latest in a series of moves targeting prominent universities. Since returning to office in January, his administration has frozen federal funding to certain institutions, revoked student visas, launched investigations, and pushed for bans on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. He has accused American universities of being dominated by antisemitic, Marxist, and anti-American ideologies.
Harvard has become a central focus of this crackdown. The Trump administration has questioned the school’s nearly $9 billion in federal funding, demanded more transparency about its foreign ties, and even threatened its ability to enrol international students. On Wednesday, Trump also hinted at withholding federal research grants.
In response, Harvard has pushed back through legal channels, suing the administration over suspended funding and joining over 200 other university presidents in public opposition to the administration’s policies.
Trump had first floated the idea of revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status in a separate social media post on April 15—Tax Day in the US—but has yet to explain how he would execute such a move.
The White House, for its part, has distanced itself from the IRS’s enforcement process. Spokesperson Harrison Fields stated last month that any IRS investigations into tax status were initiated independently and prior to the president’s comments.
Melissa Encoh
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