Senator Chides IRS on Enforcing Charity Laws
TAX WATCHThe Internal Revenue Service isn’t doing enough to go after the charitable world’s “bad actors,” including nonprofit hospitals that don’t provide enough benefits to society to justify their tax-exempt status and charities that overpay their board members and trustees, according to a…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Some Credit Counselors Will Lose Tax Exemption
By Elizabeth SchwinnThe IRS has announced that it will revoke the tax exemptions of 41 nonprofit organizations that counsel people who have amassed big credit-card debts. Together the organizations account for some $410-million of the $1-billion in revenue that credit-counseling institutions take…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Lawmakers Contacted Tax Agency About NAACP
By Elizabeth SchwinnSeven Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Susan M. Collins of Maine and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, in recent years forwarded complaints to the Internal Revenue Service about the tax-exempt status of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, according…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Congressional Fight Stalls Charity Provisions
By Elizabeth SchwinnThe odds that Congress will pass any major legislation this year to change rules affecting donors and nonprofit groups are growing slimmer. Two key lawmakers are squabbling over the legislation, and unless they come up with a compromise, Congressional aides and charity lobbyists…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Court Denies Charity Status to Donor-Advised Fund
TAX WATCHA donor-advised fund does not deserve tax-exempt status because it improperly shielded donors’ wealth from taxation, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled. The court case is among the first involving a donor-advised fund, which allows people to set aside money in a special fund, claim…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
IRS Rejects Tax Exemptions to Some Housing Groups
TAX WATCHGroups that give down-payment assistance to home buyers do not qualify for tax-exempt status if the down payments are provided by the sellers of the homes, the IRS said in a revenue ruling. In its ruling, the IRS said that when homeowners and builders give money to down-payment assistance…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Charity Provisions Dropped From Tax Legislation
TAX WATCHAs members of the House and Senate worked out a compromise tax measure last week, they dropped nearly every provision that charities and lawmakers had sought to cut down on abuses of charity tax laws and encourage charitable giving. The negotiators said the charity provisions may be…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
N.Y. United Way Reaches Deal With Former Leader
By Elizabeth SchwinnThe United Way of New York City has reached an agreement with its former leader, Ralph Dickerson Jr., to repay $227,000 that the charity said Mr. Dickerson spent on personal expenses in 2002 and 2003. The United Way said Mr. Dickerson benefited from a program by which donors…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Analysis of Federal Budget Paints Grim Picture for Nonprofit Groups
By Elizabeth SchwinnFederal grants to charities could decline by more than 11 percent over the next five years, and many other government-spending reductions are likely to harm nonprofit groups at the same time, says a new report. The report by the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund of the Aspen…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Watchdog Says Group Engaged in Politics
TAX WATCHBy Elizabeth SchwinnCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, has asked the IRS to investigate a religious organization that it says has become involved in partisan politics. The watchdog group says it was concerned that the Pennsylvania Pastors Network…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor