05.02.2025

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Here we go again: Trump renews threats to revoke Harvard’s nonprofit status, even as legal experts shake their heads

Nothing short of a long shot, yet one with the potential to slam one of the Boston area’s largest employers with the force of a meteor strike.

That’s the verdict from legal experts, as President Donald Trump escalates his campaign to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status.

On Friday, Trump took to his social media site, Truth Social, to renew his threat to revoke Harvard’s nonprofit status, while suggesting that it was a done deal.

With more than 19,000 employees, Harvard is one of the largest employers in Massachusetts.

“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status,” Trump said in his post. “It’s what they deserve!”

Photo by Manu Ros on Unsplash

However, the president’s braggadocio aside, the Trump administration is likely only at the beginning stages of an uphill legal battle with the world’s wealthiest university, Sam Brunson, a Loyola University Chicago School of Law professor, told Contrarian Boston.

In fact, it’s a battle that could drag on for years, with the first challenge simply getting the IRS to take the necessary steps to revoke Harvard’s nonprofit status.

And while the president has appointed the head of the tax agency, that’s easier said than done, according to Brunson.

The IRS will have to launch a formal review and, if it determines that Harvard should be stripped of its nonprofit status, it will have to give the university a chance to appeal, Brunson said.

Sam Brunson

“You can’t just wave a magic wand and say Harvard, you are not exempt anymore,” said Brunson, an expert on nonprofit organizations and the federal income tax. “To do an audit will take months if not years.”