December 18, 2018

IRS Issues Guidance on Application of the Nonprofit Parking Tax

As part of the big tax reform law passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump late last year (the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), provisions were added that relate to certain fringe benefits provided by tax-exempt employers to their employees. Those provisions are effective for the year 2018. One provision, new Section 512(a)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code, says that tax-exempt employers (churches, charities, etc.) must treat as unrelated business taxable income the cost of providing parking to their employees, subject to IRS guidance. What that means in plain language is that Congress created a federal income tax on the cost of employee parking provided by churches, charities, and other nonprofits.

December 17, 2018

Orr Not: Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine Bars Pastor’s Claims Arising from Internal Sexual Harassment Investigation

Illinois Courts continue to respect ecclesiastical boundaries in matters of internal church governance. This year, an Illinois court ruled a pastor disciplined for sexual harassment could not seek judicial relief arising from his church denomination’s internal investigation of a sexual harassment claim against him. Instead, the court deferred to the religious institution’s internal mechanisms as a matter of First Amendment “ecclesiastical abstention,” since all statements at issue were made within such internal church proceedings.

Religious Organizations
December 14, 2018

Congress Seeks to Restrain IRS on “Dark Money” Schedule B Donor Disclosures

Are tax-exempt organizations required to disclose their major donors on their IRS Form 990 Schedule B’s, or not?  In July 2018, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2018-38, answering “no” for Section 501(c)(4) and other tax-exempt organizations, but leaving the disclosure requirement intact for Section 501(c)(3) organizations and Section 527 political action committees (known as PACs).

Fundraising/Nonprofit Corporate Law/Tax Exemption

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