http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c)
General compliance issues
Under IRS's IRC Section 511, a 501(c) organization is subject to tax on its "
unrelated business income," whether or not the organization actually makes a profit, but not including selling donated merchandise or other business or trade carried on by volunteers, or certain bingo games.
[2] Disposal of donated goods valued over $2,500, or acceptance of goods worth over $5,000 may also trigger special filing and record-keeping requirements.
Note that "tax exempt" also does not excuse an organization from maintaining proper records and filing any required annual or special-purpose
tax returns.
[3] Previously, annual returns were not generally required from an exempt organization accruing less than $25,000 in gross income yearly.
[4] However, from 2008 onwards, many such organizations must file a yearly "e-Postcard" or risk losing their exemption
[5]
Failure to file required returns such as Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax) may result in monetary fines of up to $250,000 per year. Exempt or political organizations (excluding churches or similar religious entities) must make their returns, reports, notices, and exempt applications available for public inspection.
The exempt organization filed IRS Form 990 (or similar such public record as the Form 990-EZ or Form 990-PF) are generally available for public inspection and photocopying at the offices of the exempt organization, through a written request and payment for photocopies by mail from the exempt organization, or through a direct Form 4506-A
Request for Public Inspection or Copy or Political Organization IRS Form request to the IRS of the exempt organization filing of Form 990 for the past three tax years. The Form 4506-A also allows the public inspection and/or photocopying access to Form 1023
Application for Recognition of Exemption or Form 1024, Form 8871
Political Organization Notice of Section 527 Status, and Form 8872
Political Organization Report of Contribution and Expenditures.
Failure to timely file such returns and to make other specific information available to the public is also prohibited.
[6]
501(c)(3)
501(c)(3) exemptions apply to corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for
religious,
charitable,
scientific, testing for public safety,
literary,
educational purposes, to foster national or international amateur sports competition, promote the arts, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.
[7][8]
Another provision,
26 U.S.C. § 170, provides a deduction, for federal income tax purposes, for some donors who make
charitable contributions to most types of 501(c)(3) organizations, among others. Regulations specify which such deductions must be verifiable in order to be allowed (e.g., receipts for donations over $250). Due to the tax deductions associated with donations, loss of 501(c)(3) status can be highly challenging to a charity's continued operation, as many foundations and corporate matching programs will not grant funds to a charity without such status, and individual donors often will not consider making a donation to such a charity due to the unavailability of the deduction.
Testing for public safety is described under section 509(a)(4) of the code which makes the organization a public charity and not a private foundation,
[9] but contributions to 509(a)(4) organizations are not deductible by the donor for federal income, estate, or gift tax purposes.
The two exempt classifications of 501(c)(3) organizations are as follows:
[10]
A
public charity, identified by the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as "not a private foundation," normally receives a substantial part of its income, directly or indirectly, from the general public or from the government. The public support must be fairly broad, not limited to a few individuals or families. Public charities are defined in the Internal Revenue Code under sections 509(a)(1) through 509(a)(4).
A
private foundation, sometimes called a non-operating foundation, receives most of its income from investments and endowments. This income is used to make grants to other organizations, rather than being dispersed directly for charitable activities. Private foundations are defined in the Internal Revenue Code under section 509(a) as 501(c)(3) organizations which do not qualify as public charities.
Obtaining status
Most organizations acquire 501(c)(3) tax exemption by filing IRS
Form 1023. The form must be accompanied by a $750 filing fee if the gross receipts for the organization are expected to average $10,000 or more.
[11] If gross receipts are expected to average less than $10,000, the filing fee is reduced to $300.
[12] There are some classes of organizations that are automatically treated as tax exempt under 501(c)(3), without the need to file Form 1023:
- Churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of churches[13]
- Organizations that are not private foundations and that have gross receipts that are normally not more than than $5,000[14]
Beginning January 3, 2010 these fees will be increased. After that date, the filing fee will be "$850 for organizations whose gross receipts exceed $10,000 annually over a 4-year period".
[15] "$400 for organizations whose gross receipts are $10,000 or less annually over a 4-year period"
[16]
The IRS also expects to release a software tool called Cyber Assistant in 2010, which will assist with the preparation of the application for tax exemption. Once Cyber Assistant becomes available, the user fee structure will change again. The fees will then be $200 for all organizations (regardless of size) that file using Cyber Assistant.
[17] Organizations that do not use Cyber Assistant (regardless of size) will pay a user fee of $850.
[18]
Political activity
Section 501(c)(3) organizations are subject to limits or absolute prohibitions on engaging in political activities.
Elections
Organizations described in section 501(c)(3) are prohibited from conducting
political campaign activities to intervene in
elections to public office.
[19] The Internal Revenue Service website elaborates upon this prohibition as follows:
"Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.
"Certain activities or expenditures may not be prohibited depending on the facts and circumstances. For example, certain voter education activities (including presenting public forums and publishing voter education guides) conducted in a non-partisan manner do not constitute prohibited political campaign activity. In addition, other activities intended to encourage people to participate in the electoral process, such as voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, would not be prohibited political campaign activity if conducted in a non-partisan manner.
"On the other hand, voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias that (a) would favor one candidate over another; (b) oppose a candidate in some manner; or (c) have the effect of favoring a candidate or group of candidates, will constitute prohibited participation or intervention.
"The Internal Revenue Service provides resources to exempt organizations and the public to help them understand the prohibition. As part of its examination program, the IRS also monitors whether organizations are complying with the prohibition."
Lobbying
In contrast to the absolute prohibition on political campaign interventions by all section 501(c)(3) organizations, public charities (but not private foundations) are permitted to conduct a limited amount of lobbying to influence legislation. Although the law states that "no substantial part" of a public charity's activities may be devoted to
lobbying, charities with very large budgets may lawfully expend a million dollars (under the "expenditure" test) or more (under the "substantial part" test) per year on lobbying.
[20]