The IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) division recently issued its priorities list for 2016. Here is a list of the five strategic areas of focus for exempt organizations for the upcoming year: Exemption: Issues include non-exempt purpose activity and private inurement, enforced primarily through field examination; See...
IRS & FEDERAL TAX ISSUES
Final Regulations: Reliance Standards for Equivalency Determinations
Last week, the IRS issued final regulations regarding the standards by which a private foundation may make a “good faith determination” of whether a potential foreign grantee is the equivalent to a U.S. public charity– a process known as an equivalency determination. An equivalency determination is required so that...
Why Are Charities Tax-Exempt?
Charitable organizations are eligible to be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This is based on a common belief that giving to charities is good for society. However, with ever increasing reports of corruption and fraud, very large amounts of monies tied up in endowment funds of...
Private Foundation: New Rules Recognizing Mission-Related Investments
On September 15, 2015, the IRS released Notice 2015-62, Investments Made for Charitable Purposes, which may provide comfort to private foundations about making mission-related investments with reasonable business care without violating the jeopardizing investments laws. It is hoped that this guidance will catalyze greater impact investing by foundations using their endowment assets....
Executive Compensation – The Legal Issues
Determining the appropriate amount of compensation to pay an executive is one of the most important decisions a board is asked to make. Board members must balance budgetary concerns with the need to find a qualified candidate. Traditionally, it was not uncommon for nonprofits to expect executives to work...
Expenditure Responsibility, including for PF International Grantmaking
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...
IRS Tax Workshop – San Francisco
The IRS Exempt Organizations Division will be in San Francisco on Tuesday, August 18, and Wednesday, August 19, to present on what small and medium-sized 501(c)(3) organizations must do to comply with their tax obligations and keep their tax exempt status. You can attend either of the all-day workshops to be held...
Nonprofit Law 101 for Journalists
Prompted by a conversation among nonprofit leaders about the public’s and media’s general lack of knowledge about nonprofits, this article targeted at journalists briefly discusses some basics of federal tax laws applicable to 501(c)(3) organizations and common state corporate and charitable trust laws applicable to nonprofits. Internal Revenue Code Section...
2014 Form 990 Due Tomorrow!
if your nonprofit is on a calendar accounting year, TOMORROW (May 15th) is the deadline for filing its Form 990 with the IRS. Which forms do exempt organizations file? (IRS) 2010 Tax Year and later (Filed in 2011 and later) Form to File Instructions Gross receipts normally ≤ $50,000...
Nonprofit Law: Hot Topics – CEB / CLE
On February 26, 2015, Erin and I recorded a webinar for Continuing Education of the Bar – California on Nonprofit Law: Hot Topics. It’s an intermediate-level one-hour CLE program available here. Providing counsel to nonprofits requires knowledge and understanding of corporate and tax laws that are often not intuitive or...