Must-read CQ Weekly Cover story by Eliza Newlin Carney:

Unlike super PACs, which are not allowed to coordinate their activities with parties or candidates, a for-profit company need not keep politicians at arm’s length. And unlike politically active tax-exempt groups, which must publicly report their officers and grant recipients to the Internal Revenue Service, LLCs leave virtually no paper trail. With a little care they can avoid Federal Election Commission disclosures, public IRS filings and corporate taxes all at once — a dream come true, critics say, for publicity-shy big donors…..

But Kelner says numerous clients are approaching him with questions about how to organize themselves as for-profits, or as limited liability companies. They’re preparing for the possibility that the IRS will impose new political curbs on 501(c)(4) social-welfare groups, says Kelner. Even if the new IRS rules never take effect, conservative and tea party organizers, in particular, are convinced that the agency is on a partisan campaign to shut them down. IRS and administration officials say the agency’s mistakes in the tea party cases resulted from confusion and human error, not ill intent.

“There’s an increasing appetite to get out from under IRS scrutiny,” confirms Indiana election lawyer James Bopp Jr., who has led numerous constitutional challenges to campaign finance restrictions.