A new South Dakota law (HB 1223) exempts religious organizations from state sales tax on certain handling fees paid by religious organizations to approved relief agencies for the distribution of food.  Such distribution of food must be for the assistance or relief of the “poor, distressed, or underprivileged” through a food giveaway program.

Ray Charles gave the Albany State University a total of $3 million in 2001 for the construction of a performing arts center.  Albany State claims the gift was never restricted, however, the Foundation claims that Charles was “specific on how the money was to be spent.”  The building is expected to cost at least $23 [...]

On February 16, 2012 the New York Attorney General’s Committee for Nonprofit Revitalization released their proposed plan to “enhance governance and oversight [of nonprofits] while reducing burdens.”  Some of the proposed changes include establishing a “revolving loan fund to extend interest-free loans to nonprofits,”  making New York nonprofit laws more “nonprofit-friendly,” and mandating independent oversight of [...]

The Tax-Exempt and Government Entities section of the IRS recently released its 2011 annual report and 2012 work plan.  The report provides that the IRS performed traditional examinations on 11,699 returns from tax-exempt organizations.  The IRS performed compliance checks on 3,194 returns from tax-exempt organizations.  A few highlights from the IRS’s 2012 work plan include:  [...]

As you may remember from our prior blog post, the Tax Court held that Driscoll, an ordained minister, was allowed to apply the section 107 minister housing allowance income exclusion to multiple houses.  The government appealed the Tax Court’s decision (see here for our prior blog) to the 11th Circuit of Appeals.  Yesterday, a three-judge [...]

A recent article from the Nonprofit Times (www.thenonprofittimes.com) reminds nonprofit organizations that although the IRS has not caught up to all of the unrelated business income issues on the world wide web, it’s probably only a matter of time before they do. Keep in mind that unrelated business income is any trade or business the [...]

A new station in Indianapolis, Fox 59, has recently released a story regarding the upcoming Super Bowl and whether state and federal tax will be collected as a result of the various revenue raisers during the weekend. The NFL is a nonprofit association, so it will enjoy tax-free status on its sales and purchases while [...]

In 2005, Garth Brooks donated $500,000 to the local hospital in Oklahoma with an oral agreement between him and the President that such funds would be used to build a women’s health center that would be named in honor of Brook’s mother.  Eventually Brooks learned that the funds would be used for other construction projects for the hospital.  [...]

In an earlier blog we told you about Catholic Answers, Inc. and their court battle with the IRS regarding an excise tax that was imposed on the organization for political expenditures.  The IRS originally imposed the excise tax in response to letters the organization published online criticizing Sen. John F. Kerry, who was at that [...]

A recent notice published by the IRS is especially important for those tax-exempt organizations seeking to end human trafficking to take note of regarding the victims of human trafficking.  In 2000, Congress passed the “Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000” (the “Act”) which was enacted to combat the trafficking of persons who are forced through [...]