Internal Revenue Service investigation of Nova Roma

On Nov. 29, 2012, Robert Woolwine, "Consul" called for candidates to the "elections" for 2013. Part of the notice was the fact that whomever is elected "consul" for 2013 should be available for face to face meetings with the United State's Internal Revenue Service. Nova Roma Inc. is being audited for 2010. The first meeting was scheduled for early December.

A reliable source informs us that the matter may not be so much the banking irregularities as the issue of whether Nova Roma Inc. actually deserves its tax-exempt status. It seems that the problem may be a combination of not actually performing any of the tax exempt activities they claim, and also of a pattern of failing to abide by the by-laws that Nova Roma, Inc. was required to file.

Whatever the reason, this issue highlights the fact that Nova Roma Inc. is basically a US based operation, not the worldwide one they claim to be. 

"We Don’t Have A Process At All"

Another title for this post might be "How to avoid learning about Rome".

We have chronicled here the shady dealings of the Nova Roma "senate", the expulsion of many leading pagans and the sharp decline in membership. Now let's take a look at one reason that membership has taken a sudden dive.

The new year brings new "magistrates", and two of those magistrates ("praetors") are charged with oversight of the Nova Roma discussion groups. This means managing the hand-full of Yahoo groups that Nova Roma uses as the base of their virtual "country". Whereas most normal people would say that forum moderators set forum guidelines, in Nova Roma the "praetors" "promulgate" an "Edict of Moderation".

Before we go on, it is important to understand that there are two Yahoo groups that are used for general discussion. The "Main List" (ML) that is open to "citizens" only and the "Forum Hospitum" (FH) which is open to anyone. Message archives of both these Yahoo groups are closed to non-subscribers, and the "Forum Hospitum" rules include this not very hospitable note:

WARNING: Discussion of any matters internal to Nova Roma, such as Nova Roman politics and issues, is not permitted. Failure to abide by this prohibition could result in warnings or moderation or revocation of membership of this list.

In other words, criticism of the "government" is not allowed.