I recently returned from the 10th Annual Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations held in Los Angeles between November 16 and November 17, 2006. The conference featured a number of powerhouse practitioners in the area of EO (exempt organizations) law and several representatives from the Internal Revenue Service.
Not only did the speakers inform attendees of developments in the area of EO law (and there have been a lot!), they entertained us with humor and, in the case of one presenter, song. IRS Manager David Fish brought the house down with his musical renditions of "Losing My Exemption" (a parody of REM’s Losing My Religion, referencing the consequences of private inurement, private benefit and excessive compensation) and "PACI Time Blues" (a parody of Summertime Blues, referencing the IRS Political Activity Compliance Initiative and the 501(c)(3) prohibition on political campaign activities).
I intend to post more frequently over the coming days to capture a flavor of the topics covered in the conference, but here’s a very abbreviated list (with links):
- The Internal Revenue Manual (Parts 4 and 7 may be of particular interest to EO practitioners)
- The Pension Protection Act (this link is to Independent Sector’s analysis, which, as of this post, was last revised on October 16, 2006)
- IRS FY 2007 Priorities (starting on page 10)
- American Red Cross’s Governance Reorganization
- Form 990, Line 75c new instructions forthcoming (PGDC has an article about the issue here)
- The Charitable IRA Rollover – part of the Pension Protection Act (NCPG has an article about this provision here)
- Hospital Tax Exemption (see the Compliance Check Questionnaire sent to more than 540 tax-exempt hospitals here)
- Implications of Anti-Terrorist Financing Rules (this link is to presenter Jane Peeble’s article on PGDC)
- Community Interest Company – type of legal entity used in the UK for social enterprises
Click here for the full Program Schedule and list of presenters.