Private foundations in the United States are often interested in funding promising organizations and projects that are based outside of the country. When doing so, these foundations are required to follow certain rules and procedures promulgated by the IRS to help ensure that the foreign grantees are properly using...
INTERNATIONAL CHARITY
Draft Foreign NGO Management Law (China)
China’s draft Foreign NGO Management Law released in May 2015 would, according to an Opinion piece in the New York Times (Will China Close its Doors?), require foreign nonprofits to be vetted by China’s security police before conducting activities in China and subject them to penalties for vaguely defined offenses such...
2009 Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations – Day Two
Day Two of the WCTEO began with EO attorney Bruce Hopkins delivering his always informative and entertaining program on new developments over the past year, focusing particularly on private letter rulings (PLRs). Here are some of the notable PLRs: Denying recognition of exemption under 501(c)(3) because of operation in substantially...
Schedule F of Redesigned Form 990 – Statement of Activities Outside the U.S.
The Redesigned Form 990, which goes into effect for tax years ending after December 31, 2008, contains a new Schedule F, Statement of Activities Outside the United States. Schedule F, Part I, General Information on Activities Outside the United States, must be completed by organizations that have had aggregate...
Nonprofits and Antiterrorism: GuideStar Interview with Treasury’s Amit Sharma
GuideStar recently published an interview it conducted with Amit Sharma, Treasury’s senior advisor to the assistant secretary for terrorist financing, focusing on the topic of charities and antiterrorism. Among Sharma’s responses were the following comments: "… the threat is very real, and it is ongoing." "Designated terrorist groups around...
Anti-Terrorist Guidelines: Revised Best Practices for Charities
The U.S. Department of the Treasury released a revised version of its Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Best Practices for U.S.-based Charities (the "Guidelines") on September 29, 2006. According to the accompanying Treasury press release, this latest version takes into consideration "the comments and suggestions provided by the public to assist...
Patriot Act and Nonprofits
Guidestar recently published an article on "The Patriot Act and the Nonprofit Sector: Charitable Organizations After 9/11." The article makes the following points: The Act stipulates that financial contributions to questionable organizations are a punishable crime. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) lists individuals and organizations that the...
Executive Order 13224
The following description of Executive Order is from the U.S. Department of State: President Bush signed Executive Order 13224 on September 23, 2001. Executive Order 13224 gives the U.S. Government a powerful tool to impede terrorist funding and is part of our national commitment to lead the international effort...
International Giving – NCPGC Presentation 3/9/06
On March 9, 2006, I attended a Northern California Planned Giving Council luncheon meeting featuring Jane Peebles and a discussion of International Giving. Ms. Peebles, a partner in Bingam McCutchen’s estate planning group, is a leading legal expert in the area of international philanthropy. Here are some of the...
Council on Foundations Leads Call for Treasury Department to Withdraw Antiterrorism Guidelines
A coalition of more than 40 nonprofit organizations led by The Council on Foundations has called on the U.S. Department of Treasury to withdraw its "Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-based Charities" (rev. Nov. 2005). In response to the Treasury Department’s invitation for public comments to propose...
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