HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT AND PRESENT LAW 

OF THE FEDERAL TAX EXEMPTION FOR 

CHARITIES AND OTHER TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS 

Scheduled for a Public Hearing 

Before the 

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS 

on April 20, 2005 

 

Prepared by the Staff 

of the 

JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION 

 

April 19, 2005 

JCX-29-05
ii 

CONTENTS 

Page

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 2 

I. OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONS EXEMPT FROM FEDERAL INCOME TAX ... 18 

A. Size and Growth of the Exempt and Charitable Sector ............................................ 18 

B. Reasons for Tax Exemption...................................................................................... 27 

C. Common Tax Law Features of Exempt Organizations............................................. 37 

II. HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF THE EXEMPT STATUS OF SECTION 

501(C)(3) ORGANIZATIONS......................................................................................... 45 

A. In General.................................................................................................................. 45 

B. Summary of Threshold Requirements of Charitable Status ..................................... 48 

C. Exempt Purposes of Section 501(c)(3) Organizations.............................................. 61 

D. Public Charity or Private Foundation ....................................................................... 82 

E. General History of the Unrelated Business Income Tax ........................................ 100 

F. Related Organization Structures Involving Exempt Organizations........................ 110 

III. SPECIFIC TYPES OF CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND EVOLVING 

STANDARDS OF CHARITY ....................................................................................... 122 

A. Overview................................................................................................................. 122

B. Charitable Hospitals................................................................................................ 123 

C. Elder Care Facilities................................................................................................ 132 

D. Credit Counseling Organizations............................................................................ 135 

E. Low-income Housing.............................................................................................. 139 

F. Environmental Organizations ................................................................................. 142 

G. College Sports......................................................................................................... 145 

IV. DATA ON EXEMPT SECTOR AND CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS................ 148 

V. ADVANTAGES OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS FOR SECTION 501(C)(3) 

ORGANIZATIONS AND SUMMARY OF CRS REPORT ......................................... 155 

VI. DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS...................................................... 159 

VII. APPENDIX..................................................................................................................... 194 
1

INTRODUCTION 

The House Committee on Ways and Means has scheduled a public hearing on April 20, 

2005, on “An Overview of the Tax-Exempt Sector.” This document,1 prepared by the staff of 

the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides a description of the historical development and 

present law of the Federal tax exemption for charities and other tax-exempt organizations.2 

This document begins with an executive summary. Following the executive summary, 

Part I of this document provides an overview of organizations exempt from Federal income tax, 

including statistical information about the sector, reasons for tax exemption, and common tax 

law features of exempt organizations. Part II describes the history and evolution of the exempt 

status of organizations described in section 501(c)(3), including a discussion of the meaning of 

exempt purposes described in section 501(c)(3), the distinction between private foundations and 

public charities, a general history of the unrelated business income tax, and an overview of 

related organization structures used by exempt organizations. Part III contains a description of 

several types of organizations that are described in section 501(c)(3), including a discussion of 

the change in legal standards over time. Organizations described here are hospitals, elder care 

facilities, credit counseling organizations, low-income housing organizations, environmental 

organizations, and college sports organizations. Part IV provides statistical information showing 

the size and growth of the charitable and exempt sectors. Part V is an overview of tax and 

nontax benefits of exemption for section 501(c)(3) organizations and a summary of a 

Congressional Research Service document (included as an Appendix to this pamphlet) that lists 

the benefits of charitable exemption under Federal and certain State laws. Part VI is a 

description, including the legislative history, of the many various organizations that may qualify 

for tax-exempt status. 

 1

 This document may be cited as follows: Joint Committee on Taxation, Historical 

Development and Present Law of the Federal Tax Exemption for Charities and Other TaxExempt Organizations (JCX-29-05), April 19, 2005. 

2

 Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 

1986, as amended. 
2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

A. Overview of Organizations Exempt from Federal Income Tax 

Size and growth of the exempt sector generally

Since the inception of the Federal income tax, the Congress has exempted certain types of 

entities from income taxation. Many exempt entities, such as charitable organizations, are 

familiar. Yet charitable organizations are but one type of exempt entity. The benefit of tax 

exemption is extended to groups as diverse as social welfare organizations, title holding 

companies, fraternal organizations, small insurance companies, credit unions, cooperative 

organizations, and cemetery companies. The statistics reported in this document do not include 

churches, which are not required to file returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), and 

are not recorded in the IRS Master File of Exempt Organizations. 

There are now 28 different types of organizations listed in the main exemption section of 

the Code (section 501), and numerous other exemptions provided elsewhere. The number and 

financial holdings of these organizations are large and have grown significantly since recordkeeping began in 1975. The revenue reported to the IRS by such organizations has increased 

from approximately $0.3 trillion (in 2001 dollars) in 1975 to about $1.2 trillion in 2001. The 

2001 revenue represented approximately 12.2 percent of gross domestic product in that year. 

The assets reported by the organizations have similarly increased, from approximately $0.5 

trillion (in 2001 dollars) in 1975 to almost $2.9 trillion in 2001. 

While a large majority of exempt entities fall into familiar categories, such as charitable 

organizations, there are also a fair number of organizations that fall into more obscure categories. 

Eight categories have fewer than 150 qualifying entities each, with four categories having fewer 

than five entities each. 

Size and growth of the charitable sector

Charitable organizations described in section 501(c)(3) represent by far the largest 

category of exempt organizations, comprising about two-thirds of all exempt organizations. The 

2004 IRS Master File of Exempt Organizations shows 1,010,365 charitable organizations. In 

terms of asset size and revenues, the share of charitable organizations in the exempt sector is 

similar. In 2001, the total revenue of charitable organizations (including private foundations but 

not including churches and other organizations not required to file) was about 9.3 percent of 

gross domestic product. 

 Among charitable organizations not including churches, the largest categories of 

organizations are hospitals and post-secondary educational organizations. In 2001, hospitals 

held 29 percent of total assets and collected 42 percent of total revenues in the charitable sector. 

Colleges and universities held 21 percent of the total assets and collected 11 percent of total 

revenue. 

There has been significant recent growth in the number and size of charitable 

organizations. The number of such organizations has increased from 259,523 in 1976 to 

1,010,365 in 2004, an increase of 289 percent. The total asset value and revenues (in 2001 
3

dollars) reported to the IRS by charitable organizations similarly increased from about $360 

billion and $155 billion, respectively, in 1975, to over $2 trillion and about $942 billion, 

respectively, in 2001. 

The growth in the number and size of charitable organizations has been accompanied by 

growth in the amount of charitable deductions. In 1975, the total amount claimed as charitable 

deductions was about $43.7 billion whereas in 2002, the total was about $145 billion (both 

numbers in constant 2000 dollars). 

B. Reasons for Tax Exemption 

There is no unifying theme or singular principle that explains tax exemption for the many 

diverse organizations in the exempt sector, although there are some factors that may help to 

explain the exemption for certain of them. 

 Over the years, Congress has granted tax exemption only to certain types of 

organizations. As an initial matter, not all “nonprofit” organizations are afforded tax exemption, 

and not all tax-exempt organizations have the typical characteristics of a “nonprofit” 

organization. The term “nonprofit” generally refers to an organization’s form under State law, 

not its Federal tax status. State law generally does not prohibit “nonprofits” from earning a 

profit, as one might expect. Instead, State law typically prohibits the distribution of earnings by 

nonprofit corporations (but not necessarily by other forms of entities) to their members. 

 The Federal exemption is extended in some instances to organizations that are not subject 

to a State-law constraint on distributions, as some entities are not required for exemption 

purposes to be organized in corporate form. Therefore, exemption may be obtained by some 

organizations that do not fit the classic definition of “nonprofit.” However, the Federal tax laws 

applicable to certain types of exempt organizations (though not all) contain prohibitions, such as 

the “no private inurement” and “no private benefit” doctrines, that are in some respects similar to 

the State-law constraint. 

For some organizations, exemption from tax may be explained based on the nature of its 

activities. For example, charitable activities or activities that provide a public benefit may be 

viewed as governmental in nature and therefore not appropriate subjects of taxation. This may 

explain the exemption for charitable organizations, social welfare organizations, U.S. 

instrumentalities, and State and local governments. Promotion of certain activities may also be 

viewed as desirable policy, and therefore tax exemption is intended to encourage the activity. 

This may explain the tax exemption for arrangements to provide employee benefits, 

arrangements for individuals to save for health, retirement, and education, and the exemption for 

small or rural commercial organizations that engage in certain activities, such as farming, 

provision of financial services, insurance, electricity, or other public good. 

Exempt status may also be attributable to the structure of an organization. Some 

organizations are funded exclusively by their members and expend all funds exclusively for 

members. If such an organization collects more in membership dues than its expenses, the 

excess is reinvested in the organization for the benefit of the members. Under general tax 

principles, the organization may not be considered as having any income because there has not 
4

been a shifting of benefit from the member to the organization -- the organization merely 

facilitates a joint activity of its members. Thus, in some cases, the Code adopts a result that 

might occur even in the absence of statutory law, e.g., social clubs, fraternal organizations, 

voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations, cemetery companies, and homeowners 

associations. 

Another factor that may explain some cases of tax exemption is the nature of the 

legislative process. Congress did not provide exemption for all organizations that are not 

organized for profit; rather, the general rule is that an organization is subject to tax absent a 

specific exemption. Such a rule means that once broad categories of exemption are codified, 

there will be specific classes of organizations that do not fit within the broad category and that 

seek and receive exempt status. Social welfare organizations, business leagues, labor, 

agricultural, and horticultural organizations and other organizations may be examples. 

Another factor to consider is simple expediency, in that taxing certain small organizations 

was viewed at the time the exemption was granted as too costly to administer, especially when 

often little or no tax would be due. This appears partially to explain the reason for exempting 

single-parent title holding companies from tax as well as social clubs. As stated in 1916 

legislative history: “the securing of returns from them has been a source of annoyance and 

expense and has resulted in the collection of either no tax or an amount which is practically 

negligible.” 

C. Common Tax Law Features of Exempt Organizations

In general

Despite varying standards regarding qualification for exempt status, different categories 

of exempt organizations share some common characteristics. For example, many types of 

exempt organizations are subject to a prohibition against “private inurement,” and most exempt 

organizations are subject to the general rules regarding the taxation of unrelated business income. 

Contributions to a limited number of exempt organizations are deductible as charitable 

contributions, while contributions to others may be deductible as a business expense but not as a 

charitable contribution. Most exempt organizations also are subject to rules regarding lobbying 

and political campaign activities and are required to file annual information returns. 

Private inurement prohibition

The doctrine of private inurement generally prohibits an exempt organization from using 

its assets for the benefit of a person or entity with a close relationship to the organization. For 

example, section 501(c)(3) provides that an organization will qualify for charitable exempt status 

only if “no part of the net earnings [of the organization] inures to the benefit of any private 

shareholder or individual.” The regulations under section 501(a), which generally apply to 

organizations subject to the inurement proscription, define “private shareholder or individual” as 

“persons having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization.” Inurement 

thus applies to transactions between applicable exempt organizations and persons sometimes 

deemed “insiders” of the organization, such as directors, officers, and key employees. The issue 

of private inurement often arises where an organization pays unreasonable compensation (i.e., 
5

more than the value of the services) to such an insider. However, the inurement prohibition is 

designed to reach any transaction through which an insider is unduly benefited by an 

organization, either directly or indirectly. 

There is no “de minimis” exception under the inurement prohibition, and an organization 

that engages in an inurement transaction may face revocation of its exempt status. Until 1996, 

there was no sanction short of revocation of exempt status in the event of an inurement 

transaction. In 1996, however, Congress imposed excise taxes, frequently referred to as 

“intermediate sanctions,” on “excess benefit transactions” between certain exempt organizations 

and “disqualified persons.” The intermediate sanctions rules, which apply only to transactions 

involving organizations exempt under sections 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4), impose excise taxes on a 

disqualified person who receives an excess benefit and, under certain circumstances, on 

organization managers who approved the transaction. No such sanctions are presently imposed 

against the organization itself. 

Section 501(c)(3) organizations (but generally not other organizations) also are subject to 

a prohibition against conferring more than incidental “private benefit.” The private benefit 

prohibition applies to non-fair market value transactions with individuals or entities, not merely 

with insiders, and thus is in some respects broader than the private inurement prohibition. 

Unrelated business income tax

In general, an exempt organization may have revenue from four sources: contributions, 

gifts, and grants; trade or business income that is related to exempt activities (e.g., program 

service revenue); investment income; and trade or business income that is not related to exempt 

activities. In general, the Federal income tax exemption extends to the first three categories, and 

does not extend to an organization’s unrelated trade or business income. In some cases, 

however, the investment income of an organization is taxed as if it were unrelated trade or 

business income. 

The unrelated business income tax was introduced in 1950 to address the problem of 

unfair competition between for profit companies and non profit organizations conducting an 

unrelated for profit activity. The unrelated business income tax generally applies to income 

derived from a trade or business regularly carried on by the organization that is not substantially 

related to the performance of the organization’s tax-exempt functions. Most exempt 

organizations are subject to the tax. 

Most exempt organizations generally may operate an unrelated trade or business so long 

as it is not a primary purpose of the organization. Therefore, engaging in a substantial amount of 

unrelated business activity before jeopardizing exempt status is permitted. By contrast, a 

charitable organization may not operate an unrelated trade or business as a substantial part of its 

activities. 

Certain types of income are specifically exempt from the unrelated business income tax, 

such as dividends, interest, royalties, and certain rents, unless derived from debt-financed 

property or from certain 50-percent controlled subsidiaries. 
6

For the tax year 2001, 35,540 organizations filed unrelated business income tax returns, 

reporting a total of $7.9 billion of gross unrelated business income. This translated into 

unrelated business taxable income (after taking into account allowable deductions) of 

approximately $792 million and total tax of approximately $226 million. 

Contributions

Another feature of a minority of tax-exempt organizations is that contributions to such 

organizations may be deductible by the donor as charitable contributions for income, estate, and 

gift tax purposes. Contributions to charitable organizations, for example, generally are 

deductible for income, estate, and gift tax purposes, although the amount of deduction may be 

affected by such factors as the recipient organization’s classification as a public charity or private 

foundation and the type of property contributed. Other types of organizations that are eligible 

recipients of charitable contributions include: certain Federal, State, and local government 

entities, if the contribution is exclusively for public purposes; certain fraternal beneficiary 

societies, if the contributions are used for charitable purposes; cemetery companies, if the 

contributions are used for certain purposes; and certain organizations of war veterans. 

Contributions to other types of exempt organizations generally are not deductible as 

charitable contributions. Under certain circumstances, however, contributions to a membership 

organization, such as a social welfare organization or trade association, may be deductible as a 

business expense under section 162. In addition, contributions to tax-exempt employee benefit 

arrangements (e.g., qualified retirement plans) or individual savings arrangements (such as 

individual retirement accounts) may be deductible. 

Lobbying and political activities

Tax-exempt organizations are also subject to rules regarding the permissible level of 

lobbying and political campaign activities. In general, the lobbying and political activity rules 

applicable to charitable organizations are more severe than the rules applicable to other types of 

exempt organizations. 

Information returns

Exempt organizations are required to file an annual information return, stating 

specifically the items of gross income, receipts, disbursements, and such other information as the 

Secretary may prescribe. The requirement that an exempt organization file an annual 

information return does not apply to certain exempt organizations, including organizations (other 

than private foundations) the gross receipts of which in each taxable year normally are not more 

than $25,000. Also exempt from the requirement are churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and 

conventions or associations of churches; the exclusively religious activities of any religious 

order; certain state institutions whose income is excluded from gross income under section 115; 

an interchurch organization of local units of a church; certain mission societies; certain churchaffiliated elementary and high schools; and certain other organizations, including some that the 

IRS has relieved from the filing requirement pursuant to its statutory discretionary authority. 
7

D. Summary of Requirements of Exempt Status of Charitable Organizations 

and Selected Issues Relating to Such Organizations 

In general

In general, the requirements for exempt status of an organization under section 501(c)(3) 

of the Code are that (1) the organization must be organized and operated exclusively for certain 

purposes; (2) there must not be private inurement to organization insiders; (3) there must be no 

more than an incidental private benefit to private persons who are not organization insiders; (4) 

no substantial part of the organization’s activities may be lobbying; and (5) the organization may 

not participate or intervene in political activities. Permitted purposes are religious, charitable, 

scientific, testing for public safety, literary, educational, the fostering of national or international 

amateur sports competition, or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. Failure to satisfy 

any of these requirements should result in an organization not qualifying for exempt status under 

section 501(c)(3), or should result in a loss of such status once a violation is detected by the IRS. 

Most of the Federal law of charitable organizations is designed around ensuring that each of the 

requirements is satisfied by an organization initially and on an ongoing basis. Each of the 

requirements is simple to state, but none are simple, as each carries with it a significant body of 

statutory, common, and administrative law. 

If an organization satisfies each of the requirements, there is a further question of what 

type of charitable organization it is. A section 501(c)(3) organization is either a public charity or 

a private foundation. In general, the basis for distinguishing between public charities and private 

foundations is the level of public support an organization receives over time. Organizations with 

widespread public support tend to qualify as public charities; organizations funded by just a few 

donors tend to be classified as private foundations. There is a substantial body of law detailing 

how to determine whether an organization is publicly supported. Certain organizations also may 

qualify as public charities as a matter of law (e.g., churches, hospitals). The classification 

matters because private foundations generally are subject to more restrictions on their activities 

than are public charities, are subject to tax on their net investment income, and contributions to 

private foundations generally do not receive as favorable treatment as do contributions to public 

charities for purposes of the charitable contribution deduction. 

Satisfaction of the requirements for exemption, classification of an organization as a 

public charity or private foundation, plus the resulting benefit that contributions to charitable 

organizations generally are tax deductible provides the simplest snapshot of the law of charitable 

organizations. 

Exempt purposes of section 501(c)(3) organizations

The meaning of charity – present law

In general, there are two approaches to the meaning of the term charitable -- the legal 

sense and the ordinary and popular sense. The legal definition is derived from the law of 

charitable trusts and is broader than the ordinary sense of the term, which generally means the 

relief of the poor and distressed. Since 1959, Treasury regulations have defined the term 

“charitable” in the legal sense, to include: 
8

Relief of the poor and distressed or of the underprivileged; advancement of 

religion; advancement of education or science; erection or maintenance of public 

buildings, monuments, or works; lessening of the burdens of Government; and 

promotion of social welfare by organizations designed to accomplish any of the 

above purposes, or (i) to lessen neighborhood tensions; (ii) to eliminate prejudice 

and discrimination; (iii) to defend human and civil rights secured by law; or (iv) 

to combat community deterioration and juvenile delinquency. 

This definition is broad, encompassing several ideas that would not generally be considered as 

charitable in the ordinary sense. In addition to meeting the regulatory definition of charitable, an 

organization described in section 501(c)(3) is not organized and operated for exempt purposes if 

a purpose of the organization is against public policy or is illegal. 

In addition to the public policy requirement, certain common law principles inform the 

Federal tax law definition of charity. The charitable class requirement provides that an 

organization be organized to benefit a sufficiently large or indefinite class of people. The 

community benefit doctrine permits exemption as a charitable organization if the result of an 

activity inures to the benefit of the community, even though a private person is the immediate 

beneficiary of the activity. 

The meaning of charity and the rationale for tax exemption and charitable deductions

There is no agreed upon explanation of the rationale behind the charitable tax exemption 

and tax deduction. Some of the basic rationales that have been offered, described in greater 

detail in Part II.C of this pamphlet, may be summarized as follows: (1) charitable organizations 

serve the public and therefore should be supported through provision of tax benefits; (2) 

charitable organizations provide goods and services that otherwise would have to be provided by 

the Government and therefore should be supported by the Government; (3) it is difficult to 

measure the net income of charitable organizations, and therefore they should be exempt from 

tax; (4) charitable organizations promote pluralism; (5) charitable organizations are efficient 

providers of services but have inherent limits on their ability to raise capital compared to forprofit entities and therefore need government support in the form of tax exemption (and 

charitable contributions); and (6) exemption is afforded to those organizations that can prove 

their worth through sustained donations. 

Educational purposes

Tax exemption for educational organizations was provided in the Tariff Act of 1894, and 

has been replicated in each subsequent income tax act. Educational organizations have been 

eligible to receive tax deductible contributions since 1917. Like the term charitable, the term 

educational has no precise meaning. The Treasury regulations set forth the basic definition as 

relating to the “instruction or training of the individual for the purpose of improving or 

developing his capabilities.” This definition is consistent with provision of exemption for 

organizations that fit within the common conception of an educational organization, such as 

schools, colleges, and universities. Yet educational organizations are not limited to such 

traditional forms. The “instruction of the individual standard” may be met by many other types 

of organization. The Treasury regulations also provide that educational means the “instruction of 
9

the public on subjects useful to the individual and beneficial to the community.” The IRS and 

the courts have permitted a broad array of organizations to be considered educational under this 

standard. 

A primary issue in determining whether something is educational is not the content of the 

information but the method the organization uses to convey information, irrespective of content. 

In general, the analytical exercise is to determine whether an organization’s presentation of 

information is objective and balanced, or whether the organization instead is an advocate or a 

mouthpiece for propaganda. 

Religious purposes

The Federal tax exemption for organizations operated for religious purposes was, along 

with charitable and educational purposes, provided for originally in the Tariff Act of 1894, and 

religious organizations were designated as eligible for charitable contributions in 1917. There is 

no definition of “religious” provided by regulation. The manifest reason is the constitutional law 

framework that limits Federal involvement in religion. The IRS has developed a multi-factor list 

of characteristics that inform whether an organization may be considered a church (which is a 

kind of religious organization), and the IRS is careful to point out that this list is not 

comprehensive and that in each case, the facts and circumstances will be considered. In many 

cases in which a religious organization’s claim to exempt status is questioned, the issue of 

whether the organization serves religious purposes often is not addressed because exempt status 

may be denied on other grounds, for example, private benefit or private inurement, 

commerciality, or violation of the political activities prohibition. 

The Constitutional concerns regarding Federal involvement in religious organizations 

extend to the application of regulatory requirements. For example, certain religious 

organizations are exempted from the requirement to apply for tax exempt status, from annual 

information return requirements, and special audit procedures apply to churches. As a result, 

although religious organizations, particularly churches, constitute a significant part of the 

charitable sector, information about such organizations is scarce. 

Scientific purposes

Scientific purposes were the first addition to the original three exempt charitable purposes 

and were added in 1913. Charitable contributions to scientific organizations were made 

deductible in 1917. A tax exempt scientific purpose hinges on the performance of basic or 

fundamental research in the public interest. Scientific research that is “applied” or “practical” 

may be subject to the unrelated business income tax, but generally is not inconsistent with 

exempt purposes. There is no precise definition of scientific research, and, in general, courts and 

the IRS have determined whether an organization is engaged in scientific research on a case-bycase basis. Scientific research must be in the public interest. Scientific research does not include 

activities of a type ordinarily carried on as incidental to commercial or industrial operations. 
10

E. Public Charity or Private Foundation 

Present law – definition

Once an organization qualifies for tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3), the 

organization must be classified as either a public charity or a private foundation. An 

organization may qualify as a public charity in several ways. For example, it may be a specified 

type of organization, such as a church, educational institution, hospital and certain other 

organizations; it may qualify as a publicly supported public charity; it may qualify as a 

“supporting organization.” An organization that does not qualify as a public charity is a private 

foundation. 

Legislative history and background for the 1969 public charity-private foundation 

distinction

The Tax Reform Act of 1969 defined a private foundation in the Code for the first time 

and set forth the basis for today’s law regulating their conduct. Prior to 1969, incremental 

changes distinguished private foundations from other charitable organizations. The Revenue Act 

of 1950 established a preference for publicly supported and certain other charitable organizations 

over private foundations by providing that certain self-dealing transactions between private 

foundations and foundation insiders could result in loss of exemption if the transactions were not 

made at arm’s length. A possible loss of exempt status also was imposed for unreasonable 

income accumulations, use of income to a “substantial” degree for non exempt purposes, or 

investment of income in a manner that jeopardizes the achievement of exempt purposes. 

On the charitable contribution side, the public charity-private foundation distinction 

began with the adoption of the Revenue Code of 1954. Congress increased the percentage 

limitation for charitable contributions to 30 percent, but made the increase available only for 

certain charitable organizations. Congress expanded this preference in the Revenue Act of 1964, 

by extending it to organizations that were publicly or governmentally supported, thus excluding 

private foundations.

Concerns about the uses and abuses of private foundations was an ongoing theme in the 

years leading up to the Tax Reform Act of 1969. In 1952 and 1953, two House Committees 

investigated the activities of foundations. In the 1960’s, Congressman Wright Patman issued a 

series of highly critical reports regarding private foundations. In 1965, the Treasury Department 

issued a report on private foundations, which concluded that most private foundations were not 

abusive, but identified six “major problems” and recommended legislation. The major problems 

were self-dealing, the delay in benefit to charity, foundation involvement in business, family use 

of foundations to control corporate and other property, financial transactions unrelated to 

charitable functions, and donor involvement in foundation management. 

The Tax Reform Act of 1969

The Tax Reform Act of 1969 defined private foundations in the Code and established 

new rules regulating the conduct of foundations, a two-tier system of excise taxes intended to 

ensure compliance with the new rules, and a tax on the net investment income of foundations. 

These excise taxes replaced the principal penalties imposed under prior law for foundation 
11

misuse, i.e., possible loss of exempt status and eligibility to receive deductible contributions, 

which had proved difficult to administer and to enforce. In general, the rules of the 1969 Act 

remain in force today.

The Act generally prohibited self-dealing transactions between a private foundation and a 

disqualified person in order to minimize the need to apply subjective arm’s-length standards, to 

avoid the temptation to misuse private foundations for noncharitable purposes, to provide a more 

rational relationship between sanctions and improper acts, and to improve enforcement. 

Congress also determined that the highest fiduciary standards required complete elimination of 

all self-dealing, rather than merely imposition of arm’s length standards. 

Congress replaced the 1950 rule of loss of tax-exempt status if the organization’s 

aggregate accumulated income was “unreasonable in amount or duration” with a provision that 

required a payout based on a specified percentage of a private foundation’s non charitable use 

assets. Congress also adopted rules that limit the amount of permitted business holdings of a 

private foundation. Congress determined that a number of private foundations were being used 

to maintain control of businesses and was concerned that as a result foundations with significant 

business holdings tended to be relatively unconcerned about producing income, that the attention 

and interest of such foundations would be devoted to the operation, maintenance, and 

improvement of the business and not exempt activities, and that businesses owned by exempt 

organizations may be operated in a way that provides those businesses with a competitive 

advantage over businesses owned by taxable persons. 

Prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1969, a private foundation would lose its tax-exempt 

status if its accumulated income was invested in a manner that jeopardized the carrying out of its 

charitable purposes. No similar limitation applied to investment of principal. Congress 

determined that investments of principal that jeopardize exempt purposes may reduce benefits to 

charity just as much as jeopardizing investments of accumulated income. In addition, the loss of 

exemption of prior law was considered too harsh a sanction, and a more limited sanction was 

provided. The 1969 Act taxed certain expenditures of a private foundation as a means of 

enforcing several of the general prohibitions on the conduct of charitable organizations and 

foundations. Congress also imposed a termination tax on private foundations that terminate 

existence. 

1996 Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 – intermediate sanctions on public charities

Prior to 1996, there was no sanction, short of revocation of tax exemption, on 

organization insiders or disqualified persons for engaging in self-dealing transactions with 

respect to a public charity, even though private foundations had been subject to self-dealing rules 

since 1969. In 1996, Congress enacted new “intermediate sanctions” in the form of excise taxes 

on “excess benefit transactions” between a public charity or a social welfare organization and an 

insider of the organization. Like the 1950 Act self-dealing rules applicable to private 

foundations, the 1996 intermediate sanctions rules generally permit insider transactions to occur 

so long as no excess benefit is provided to an organization insider. 
12

Selected issues relating to the public charity – private foundation distinction

In 2005, thirty-six years after Congress first drew a meaningful legal distinction between 

publicly supported organizations and private foundations, it may not be as clear, given the 

growth and diversity of publicly supported organizations, why some of the private foundation 

rules are not relevant for certain public charities, or whether some of the private foundation rules 

are performing their intended purpose. For example, the retention of substantial holdings in a 

commercial business, the making of investments or expenditures that jeopardize or are 

inconsistent with exempt purposes, or the maintenance of large endowment funds raise some of 

the same concerns whether conducted by a public charity or a private foundation. 

In defining a private foundation, the 1969 Act provided that an organization that provides 

support to a public charity (a “supporting organization”) is considered a public charity and not a 

private foundation. Thus, supporting organizations receive the benefit of the favorable charitable 

contribution deduction rules and avoid the excise tax regime applicable to private foundations. 

Donors to supporting organizations may take a fair market value deduction for contributions of 

capital gain property such as closely held stock, which would not be permitted for gifts to private 

foundations. As a public charity, supporting organizations also are not subject to the private 

foundation self-dealing rules (e.g., barring loans and other transactions with insiders), limitations 

on business holdings, or subject to the private foundation payout rules. However, unlike other 

public charities but like private foundations, supporting organizations generally do not have 

broadly based support, and may resemble private foundations in other respects. 

Community foundations and donor advised funds, which generally qualify as public 

charities, offer limited ways for donors to exercise post-transfer control or direction over the use 

of funds or other property transferred to a charity for which the donor is entitled to a deduction in 

the year of transfer. Contributors to community foundations and donor advised funds receive the 

benefit of the favorable public charity rules and some elements of the control over distributions 

without being subject to the legal constraints placed on a private foundation. Thus, a donor can 

fund an account in a community foundation or donor advised fund with cash or capital gain 

property, take a fair market value deduction, accumulate income in the fund, and from time to 

time recommend that amounts be paid out of the fund for charitable purposes. Community 

foundations and donor advised funds, like supporting organizations, resemble private 

foundations in many ways, but are considered public charities. 

F. General History of the Unrelated Business Income Tax 

Until the introduction of the unrelated business income tax in 1950, exempt organizations 

enjoyed a full exemption from Federal income tax. If a charitable or other exempt organization 

met the organizational and operational requirements of the statute, there was no statutory 

limitation on the amount of business activity an exempt organization could conduct so long as 

the earnings from the business were used for exempt purposes. Courts extended this “destination 

of income test” to the exemption even of charitable organizations that did not conduct any 

charitable programs, but rather operated commercial businesses for the benefit of a charitable 

organization, so called “feeder” organizations. In the years before 1950, charitable organizations 

also were acquiring real estate with borrowed funds. In a typical transaction, a tax-exempt 

organization would borrow money to acquire real estate, lease the property back to the seller 
13

under a long-term lease, and service the loan with tax-free rental income from the lease. Under 

such transactions, there was a concern that exempt organizations were in effect leveraging their 

tax exemption and threatening the tax base by acquiring, through debt, income producing assets 

that after the acquisition no longer generated revenue for the Federal government. 

As a response to such practices and rulings, in 1950 Congress subjected charitable 

organizations (not including churches), and certain other exempt organizations to tax on their 

unrelated business income. The tax was intended to prevent unfair competition. Excluded from 

the tax was passive investment income and certain gains and losses from the disposition of 

property. Excluded from the definition of an unrelated trade or business was a trade or business 

in which substantially all the work in carrying on the business is performed without 

compensation, a trade or business carried on primarily for the convenience of the members, and a 

trade or business that sells merchandise, substantially all of which is received by the 

organizations as gifts or contributions. 

To address the issue of feeder organizations, the 1950 Act provided that, in general, an 

organization that is operated primarily for the purpose of carrying on a trade or business for 

profit may not be recognized as tax-exempt merely because all of the organization’s profits are 

payable to tax-exempt organizations. To address the leveraging of exemption, the 1950 Act also 

taxed certain rents received in connection with the leveraged sale and leaseback of real estate. 

Nineteen years later, in the Tax Reform Act of 1969, Congress made significant changes 

to the unrelated business income tax rules, extending the tax to all exempt organizations 

described in section 501(c) and 401(a) (except United States instrumentalities). In addition, the 

1969 Act expanded the tax on debt-financed income to cover not only certain rents from debtfinanced acquisitions of real estate, but to tax in addition other debt-financed income. In order to 

prevent evasion of the unrelated business income tax through the use of controlled subsidiaries, 

the Act also generally provided that payments to a tax-exempt organization of interest, annuities, 

royalties, and rent from a taxable or tax-exempt subsidiary of such organization may be subject 

to tax. These provisions were intended to prevent tax-exempt organizations from “renting” 

assets to a subsidiary for use in an unrelated business, thereby permitting the subsidiary to escape 

income taxes through a large rent deduction. Since 1969, Congress has made a number of 

changes to the unrelated business income tax rules, but the structure of the tax has remained 

largely intact. 

Selected issues relating to the unrelated business income tax

In general, exempt organizations have greater discretion than taxable organizations in 

determining whether to report income as taxable or not, through the questions of whether income 

is from a regularly conducted trade or business, and whether the conduct of such a trade or 

business is “substantially related” to exempt purposes. In addition, even if an exempt 

organization treats income as unrelated and therefore as subject to tax, an exempt organization 

might allocate expenses for an exempt activity to an unrelated activity in order to minimize or 

eliminate the tax. 

Issues often arise regarding whether certain types of receipts constitute royalties, which 

generally are excluded in determining an organization’s unrelated business taxable income. 
14

Two issues that have been the source of considerable debate in this area are: (1) whether income 

from an affinity credit card program constitutes a royalty and (2) whether income from a mailing 

list rental constitutes a royalty. Notwithstanding several court decisions, a taxpayer that provides 

more than a small amount of clerical services may risk having payments received in exchange 

for a license classified as payments for services rather than as excludable royalties. 

G. Related Organization Structures Involving Exempt Organizations 

An exempt organization may be affiliated with other organizations or entities, some 

exempt and some taxable. Thus, an exempt organization might be a parent of one or more 

incorporated organizations, a subsidiary of another exempt organization, or an organization that 

is under the common control of another exempt organization. In general, an exempt organization 

will be treated as separate from its related corporations as long as the purposes for which the 

related entity was formed are carried out in its activities. Related organization structures 

involving exempt organizations often are used by exempt organizations: (1) to isolate potential 

State law liability (tort, contract, or other) in a separate entity; (2) to isolate actual or potential 

income tax attributes (e.g., unrelated business income) in a separate entity; (3) to conduct forprofit or dissimilar nonprofit activities in a separate entity for management, administrative, 

reporting, or other reasons; (4) to participate in an investment; or (5) because State or Federal 

law, or a third party such as a lender, might require or encourage the use of a separate State law 

or tax entity for the particular type of arrangement. 

H. Specific Types of Charitable Organizations and Evolving Standards of Charity 

Charitable hospitals

In general

The Code does not provide a per se charitable exemption for hospitals. Rather, a hospital 

qualifies for exemption if it is organized and operated for a charitable purpose and meets 

additional requirements of section 501(c)(3). The promotion of health has long been recognized 

as a charitable purpose that is beneficial to the community as a whole. It includes not only the 

establishment or maintenance of charitable hospitals, but clinics, homes for the aged, and other 

providers of health care. 

Medical care generally is provided by government-owned, for-profit, and tax-exempt 

organizations. In the hospital sector, tax-exempt organizations dominate, with approximately 60 

percent of the nation’s hospitals operating as charitable institutions. Historically, charitable 

hospitals were characterized as voluntary because they generally were supported by 

philanthropy, staffed by doctors who worked without compensation, and served, almost 

exclusively, the sick poor. However, the character of the charitable hospital sector has changed 

significantly over the past several decades due to the growth of such resources as employerprovided health insurance and governmental programs such as Medicare (for the elderly and 

disabled) and Medicaid (for the poor). Today, charitable hospitals generally provide medical and 

other health-related services in a manner similar to their for-profit counterparts. They operate 

under the same healthcare regulations, compete for the same patients and doctors, and derive 

funding from many of the same sources as other types of hospitals. 
15

Evolution of the legal standard

Financial Ability Standard.–Much like the nature of the health-care industry itself, the 

definition of the term charitable as applied to hospitals has not been static. In 1956, the IRS 

adopted the “financial ability standard,” requiring that a charitable hospital be “operated to the 

extent of its financial ability for those not able to pay for the services rendered and not 

exclusively for those who are able and expected to pay.” This standard effectively meant that a 

charitable hospital could not refuse to accept patients in need of hospital care who could not pay 

for such services. However, the IRS acknowledged that hospitals normally charge patients who 

are able to pay for services in order to meet the hospital’s operating expenses and stated that the 

“fact that the hospital’s charity record is relatively low is not conclusive that a hospital is not 

operated for charitable purposes to the full extent of its financial ability.” The ruling’s 

requirement that charitable hospitals provide some amount of free or reduced-rate care reflected 

the view that hospitals and other health care institutions were only charitable if they both 

provided relief to the poor and promoted health. 

Community Benefit Standard.–The financial ability standard governed charitable 

hospitals until 1969. Congress had criticized the financial ability standard as imprecise 

concerning the extent to which a hospital must accept patients who are unable to pay. In 

addition, the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 had a fundamental effect on hospitals; a 

substantial portion of the free care previously subsidized by charitable hospitals now was 

reimbursed through these governmental programs. In response to these developments, the IRS 

adopted the “community benefit standard,” which remains the test applied by the IRS for 

determining whether a hospital is charitable. Under the community benefit standard, the 

promotion of health care is “one of the purposes in the general law of charity that is deemed 

beneficial to the community as a whole even though the class of beneficiaries eligible to receive 

a direct benefit from its activities does not include all members of the community, such as 

indigent members, provided that the class is not so small that its relief is not of benefit to the 

community.” Applying this community benefit standard, the IRS found that a hospital’s 

operation of a generally accessible emergency room open to all persons, regardless of ability to 

pay, provided a benefit to a sufficiently broad class of persons in the community. The 

requirement of the financial ability standard that charitable hospitals provide care to patients 

without charge or at rates below cost was removed. The community benefit standard applies not 

only to traditional hospitals, but also other health care provider organizations, such as clinics or 

health maintenance organizations (HMOs). 

Elder care facilities

The IRS’s historical position was that the aged were not a charitable class per se. 

Exemptions for organizations providing care and housing services to the aged generally were 

conditioned upon traditional notions of charity, such as whether the organization provided relief 

of the poor and distressed. In 1972, the IRS ruled that the aged, apart from considerations of 

financial hardship, are as a class highly susceptible to other forms of distress. The IRS identified 

three primary needs of aged persons: the need for housing, the need for health care, and the need 

for financial security. The satisfaction of these needs “contributes to the prevention and 

elimination of the causes of the unique forms of distress to which the aged, as a class, are highly 

susceptible.” Organizations operated in a manner designed to satisfy all three primary needs 
16

may qualify for charitable status even though direct financial assistance to the elderly may not be 

involved. The ruling that the elderly are a charitable class has led to recognition of a number of 

charitable activities for the benefit of the elderly, including senior citizen centers, rural rest 

homes, meal delivery organizations, broadcasting organizations, transportation providers, and a 

beauty shop. 

Credit counseling organizations

In a 1969 ruling, the IRS concluded that a credit counseling organization was exempt as a 

charitable or educational organization described in section 501(c)(3) by virtue of aiding lowincome people who had financial problems and providing education to the public. The 

organization had two functions: (1) educating the public on personal money management, such 

as budgeting, buying practices, and the sound use of consumer credit through the use of films, 

speakers, and publications; and (2) providing individual counseling to low-income individuals 

and families without charge. As part of its counseling activities, the organization established 

debt management plans for clients who required such services, at no charge to the clients. The 

organization was supported by contributions primarily from creditors, and its board of directors 

was comprised of representatives from religious organizations, civic groups, labor unions, 

business groups, and educational institutions. In 1978, a court held that the law did not require 

that an organization must perform its exempt functions solely for the benefit of low-income 

individuals to be considered charitable. The court found the debt management plans of the 

agency at issue were an integral part of its counseling function. 

During the period from 1994 to late 2003, 1,215 credit counseling organizations applied 

to the IRS for tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3), including 810 from 2000 to 2003. As of 

late 2003, the IRS has recognized more than 850 credit counseling organizations as tax exempt 

under section 501(c)(3). A number of new credit counseling entities have engaged in aggressive 

marketing and advertising while providing very little legitimate credit counseling or financial 

training. In addition, many of today’s credit counseling organizations conduct as their primary 

activity, and derive most of their revenues from, debt management planning and other activities. 

Because of these changes in the industry, Congress and the IRS have expressed concern that taxexempt credit counseling organizations are not fulfilling their exempt purpose. The IRS has 

commenced a broad examination and compliance program with respect to the credit counseling 

industry. The IRS concluded in a recent legal memorandum that many credit counseling 

organizations may not qualify for exemption under section 501(c)(3) because of operation for a 

substantial nonexempt purpose, substantial private benefit, and private inurement. 

Low-income housing

Nonprofit housing organizations created to aid low-income families may qualify as 

charitable organizations on the basis of providing relief to the poor. Over the past few decades, 

new models of affordable housing have been established as an alternative to large public housing 

projects, including many mixed-income developments. Questions arose whether organizations 

serving individuals with a mix of incomes, only some of whom are poor, qualify as charitable. 

In response, the IRS issued low-income housing guidelines in 1996 that set forth criteria for 

determining whether a housing organization provides relief to the poor. The guidelines contain a 

safe harbor, under which an organization must reserve a significant percentage of residential 
17

units for occupancy by both low-income and very low-income families, and only a limited 

number of housing units may be occupied by residents with incomes above low-income limits. 

In addition, organizations providing housing assistance that is not limited to the poor may qualify 

for exemption if the organization serves other charitable purposes such as lessening the burdens 

of government, lessening neighborhood tensions, eliminating prejudice and discrimination, 

combating community deterioration, or providing specialized housing for the elderly. 

Environmental organizations

Organizations established to preserve and promote the natural environment may be 

exempt under section 501(c)(3) as charitable, educational, or scientific organizations. The 

exemption for environmental organizations generally is based on the principle that efforts to 

preserve and protect the natural environment for the benefit of the public serve a charitable 

purpose. In addition, organizations engaged in activities designed to enhance land conservation 

and preservation may be viewed as advancing education and science. 

For example, the IRS ruled that an organization formed for the purpose of preserving the 

natural environment by acquiring ecologically significant undeveloped land, and either 

maintaining the land itself with limited public access or transferring the land to a government 

conservation agency by outright gift, or being reimbursed by the agency for its cost, qualified as 

charitable. The IRS has described the benefit to the public from environmental conservation as 

deriving “not merely from the current educational, scientific, and recreational uses that are made 

of natural resources, but from their preservation as well.” However, the mere preservation of 

existing land without a showing that the land has any distinctive ecological significance did not 

constitute a charitable purpose. 

In 1980, Congress provided a charitable deduction for “qualified conservation 

contributions” to certain qualified organizations for conservation purposes. The legislative 

history to the Act indicates that specified preservation activities yield significant benefits to the 

public and are to be encouraged. Subsequent to the 1980 law, the IRS issued an internal legal 

memorandum stating that organizations that are established to accept and preserve qualified 

conservation contributions may be entitled to exemption and that the 1980 law raised a strong 

implication as to Congressional intent that charitable purposes of necessity expand beyond the 

ecologically significant standard articulated in prior IRS rulings. 

College sports

College athletic organizations that promote certain aspects of athletic competition have 

generally been held to be educational and, thus, exempt under section 501(c)(3). The exemption 

is based on the principle that an athletic program conducted for the physical development and 

betterment of the students is an integral part of a university’s overall educational activities. In 

addition, the revenue that a college or university derives from admission to athletic events is 

income from a related business to the extent the activities are substantially related to the 

institution’s educational programs. Today, colleges and universities may generate significant 

financial benefits from their participation in athletic events. 
18

I. OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONS EXEMPT 

FROM FEDERAL INCOME TAX 

A. Size and Growth of the Exempt and Charitable Sector 

In general

Since the inception of the Federal income tax, the Congress has exempted certain types of 

entities from income taxation. Many exempt entities, such as charitable organizations, are 

familiar.3

 Yet charitable organizations are but one type of exempt entity. The benefit of tax 

exemption is extended to groups as diverse as social welfare organizations, title holding 

companies, fraternal organizations, small insurance companies, credit unions, cooperative 

organizations, and cemetery companies. The statistics reported in this document do not include 

churches, which are not required to file returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), and 

generally are not recorded in the IRS Master File of Exempt Organizations. 

There are now 28 different types of organizations listed in the main exemption section of 

the Code, and numerous other exemptions provided elsewhere.4 In 2001, organizations 

described in sections 501(c)(1) through 501(c)(25) were reported to hold $2.9 trillion in assets. 

Their revenues totaled $1.2 trillion, or approximately 12 percent of gross domestic product. The 

number and financial holdings of these organizations has grown significantly since recordkeeping began in 1975. The number of section 501(c) organizations filing returns with the IRS 

has increased from 247,086 in 1975 to 384,534 in 2001. Revenues reported on these returns 

have increased from approximately $.3 trillion in inflation adjusted dollars in 1975, while assets 

have increased from approximately $.5 trillion. Figure 1 provides a graphic illustration of the 

size of the sector in 1975, and in 2001, in terms of number of returns, assets, and revenues for 

organizations described in sections 501(c)(1) through 501(c)(25). Assets and revenues are 

presented in constant (inflation-adjusted) dollars.5 

 3

 The word “charitable” generally is used in this pamphlet to include any of the purposes 

described in section 501(c)(3), e.g., religious, educational, scientific, and other.

4

 See secs. 115, 220, 223, 401(a), 408(e), 457(g), 501(c), 501(d), 501(e), 501(f), 501(k), 501(n), 

516, 521, 526-530, and 7871. Although section 501(c) has 28 subsections, the exemption provided for 

section 501(c)(20) organizations expired for taxable years beginning after June 30, 1992. Sec. 120(e). 

Apart from general descriptions provided in Part VI, this document does not discuss those entities that are 

exempt under section 401 of the Code, i.e., retirement savings vehicles, which are subject to a completely 

different regulatory apparatus than other organizations exempt under section 501. 

5

 See Table 5, Part IV. 
19

Figure 1 

number of organizations

assets (millions of 2001

dollars) revenues (millions of 2001

dollars)

1975

2001

-

500,000

1,000,000

1,500,000

2,000,000

2,500,000

Size of Exempt Sector 1975, 2001

1975

2001

SOURCE: Joint Committee staff tabulations from Tables 5 and 6, Part IV. 

Size of exempt sector (especially the charitable sector)

While a large majority of exempt entities fall into familiar categories, such as charitable 

organizations, there are also a fair number of organizations that fall into more obscure categories. 

Table 1 shows the number of entities for the three largest categories of section 501(c) 

organizations for selected years since 1976. (Table 7 provides more detail on the number of 

organizations for each organization type.) In 2004, the IRS Master File of Exempt 

Organizations shows 1,540,534 organizations exempt from tax.6

 Of these, 1,010,365, or 66 

percent, are organizations described in section 501(c)(3) (i.e., charitable organizations). In terms 

of number of entities, the next largest are social welfare organizations (nine percent), business 

leagues (5.6 percent), social clubs (4.6 percent), section 501(c)(8) fraternal beneficiary societies 

(4.5 percent), labor, agricultural, and horticultural organizations (4.1 percent), and veterans 

organizations (2.3 percent). In terms of asset size and revenues, the proportions are similar.7 

 6

 This includes organizations in sections 501(c)(1) through (25). Of the organizations described 

in section 501(c)(3), it does not include churches and other organizations not required to file an 

application for tax exemption. See Table 7, Part IV. 

7

 Joint Committee staff calculations based on data in Table 7, Part IV. 
20

Some organizations are very few in number: U.S. instrumentalities (116 entities), black lung 

trusts (33 entities), crop financing corporations (21 entities), teachers retirement funds (16 

entities), certain ERISA trusts (4 entities), certain employee funded trusts (2 entities), and pre1880 veterans organizations (2 entities). In one case, only one entity meets the requirements set 

forth in the Code, e.g., educational cooperatives described in section 501(f). 

Table 1.–Number of Organizations on the IRS Master File by 501(c) Section 

Selected Years, 1976-2004 

Type of Organization 1976 1985 1995 2004

 

 Total 756,594 844,806 1,162,810 1,540,534

501(c)(3), charitable, religious, and similar 

organizations 259,523 366,071 626,226 1,010,365

501(c)(4) social welfare organizations 125,415 131,250 139,451 138,193

501(c)(8) fraternal benefit societies 141,725 84,435 91,972 69,798

all other 501(c) organizations 229,931 263,050 305,161 322,178

Source: Joint Committee staff calculations based on Table 7, Part IV. 

Charitable organizations also constitute a disproportionately large part of the exempt 

sector in terms of asset size and revenues. For example, in 2001, the total assets and total 

revenues of charitable organizations (not including private foundations) comprised 69 percent 

and 76 percent respectively of the total assets and total revenues of organizations described in 

sections 501(c)(1) through 501(c)(25).8

 Relative to gross domestic product, in 2001, the total 

revenue of charitable organizations (including private foundations but not including churches 

and other organizations not required to file) was 9.3 percent.9 

Size among different charitable organizations

Among charitable organizations not including churches or private foundations, the largest 

categories of organizations are hospitals and post-secondary educational organizations. In 2001, 

hospitals held 29 percent of total assets and collected 42 percent of total revenues in the 

charitable sector. Colleges and universities held 21 percent of the total assets and collected 11 

percent of total revenue. Combined, hospitals, colleges, and universities accounted for 50 

percent of total assets and 53 percent of total revenue of charitable organizations in 2001.10 

Table 2 shows the allocation of returns, assets, and revenues across the major National Tax 

Exempt Entity (“NTEE”) categories for 2001 for charitable organizations (excluding churches 

 8

 See Table 5, Part IV. Of the organizations described in section 501(c)(3), this table does not 

include churches and other organizations not required to file a return. 

9

 Joint Committee staff calculation based on information in Table 6, Part IV, and Gross Domestic 

Product data from Economic Report of the President, February 2005, U.S. GPO, Table B-1. 

10 JCT staff calculations based on data in Table 8, Part IV. 
21

and private foundations). Note that hospitals generally are a subset of the “health” category, and 

colleges and universities generally are a subset of the “education” category. Because churches 

are not required to file returns, filers in the religious category make up a relatively small (6.2 

percent) portion of charitable returns, and hold an even smaller (one percent) portion of reported 

charitable assets. 

Table 2.–Returns, Assets, and Revenues for Charitable Organizations 

by NTEE Category for 2001 

 Number of Returns Assets Revenues 

 

 Number percent 

dollars in 

millions percent 

dollars in 

millions percent 

 

Total 240,569 1,631,719 896,974 

Arts, Culture, and 

humanities 26,006 10.8% 65,714 4.0% 22,743 2.5%

Education 41,153 17.1% 518,738 31.8% 157,307 17.5%

 colleges and universities 1,374 0.6% 344,657 21.1% 98,837 11.0%

Environment, animals 9,413 3.9% 24,150 1.5% 9,019 1.0%

Health 32,195 13.4% 646,979 39.7% 509,017 56.7%

 hospitals 3,961 1.6% 473,925 29.0% 374,414 41.7%

Human services 91,131 37.9% 189,449 11.6% 135,846 15.1%

International, foreign affairs 3,360 1.4% 10,789 0.7% 10,494 1.2%

mutual, membership 

benefit 583 0.2% 10,262 0.6% 1,667 0.2%

public, societal benefit 21,537 9.0% 149,554 9.2% 43,666 4.9%

religion related 14,989 6.2% 15,932 1.0% 7,163 0.8%

unkown, unclassified 202 0.1% 153 0.0% 52 0.0%

SOURCE: Compiled from Table 8 in Part IV, and SOI Bulletin, Fall 2004, vol. 24, no.2, “Charities and Other Tax-Exempt Organizations, 2001”, 

Figure D, p. 129, with Joint Committee staff calculations. 

Of the different types of charitable organizations, in 2001, a small percentage (7.4 percent 

of organizations filing returns) had assets of $10 million or more, but this group accounted for 88 

percent of total assets and 80 percent of total revenues.11 

Growth of exempt sector (especially the charitable sector)

In recent years, the exempt sector has grown significantly. As shown in Table 1, above, 

in 2004, organizations on the IRS Master File of Exempt Organizations recorded 1,540,534 

organizations exempt from tax; in 1995, the number was 1,162,810.12 That is, in the space of 

 11 Table 9, Part IV.

12 This includes organizations in sections 501(c)(1) through (25). Of the organizations described 

in section 501(c)(3), it does not include churches and other organizations not required to file an 
22

nine years, there were an additional 377,724 exempt organizations, or an increase of 32 percent. 

In 1976, the number of exempt entities was 756,594, meaning that since 1976 there has been an 

increase in the number of exempt organizations of 783,940, or more than 100 percent growth in 

the number of organizations. Organizations described in section 501(c)(3) have experienced a 

disproportionate share of this growth, increasing in number from 259,523 entities on the IRS 

Master File in 1976 to 1,010,365 entities in 2004, an increase of 289 percent. 

Figure 2 illustrates the growth and increasing concentration of exempt organizations in 

the charitable sector. It shows the percentage of organizations in several section 501(c) 

categories on the IRS Master File for 1976 and 2004. Most of the organizations are concentrated 

in the charitable, fraternal benefit and social welfare categories. The concentration in the 

charitable sector has increased since 1976. 

 

application for tax exemption. These numbers differ from the number filing returns because the Master 

File records those filing for exemption from filing as well as actual filers. 
23

Figure 2 

Percent of Returns by Type of Charitable Organization(1)

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 19

IRC 501(c) subsection

Percent of Returns

1976

2004

(1) excludes organizations with fewer than one percent of returns 

Source: Joint Committee staff calculations based on Table 7 in Part IV. 

The growth in the number of entities is reflected in the growth of the total assets and total 

revenue of the exempt sector. Table 3 shows growth, in returns and inflation-adjusted assets and 

revenues, for all section 501(c) and 501(c)(3) organizations between 1975 and 2001. In 2001, of 

all section 501(c) organizations filing returns, total assets were $2.9 trillion and total revenues 

were $1.2 trillion.13 By contrast, in 1975 in 2001 dollars (adjusted for inflation), total assets of 

such organizations were $543 billion and total revenues were $252 billion. This growth 

represents roughly a fivefold increase in assets and revenue of 501(c)(3)s from 1975 to 2001. 

The growth of section 501(c)(3) organizations in terms of asset size and revenues is 

similar. In 2001, of all section 501(c)(3) organizations filing returns (e.g., excluding churches 

but including private foundations), the total asset value was $2.045 trillion, with total revenues of 

 13 See Tables 5 and 6, Part IV for more details. Private foundations in 2001 had total assets of 

$455.423 billion and total revenues of about $45.263 billion. 
24

about $942 billion. In 1975, using constant, 2001 dollars, the total asset value of such 

organizations was about $360 billion with total revenues of about $155 billion. In percentage 

terms, the growth in assets since 1975 is 567 percent and the growth in revenues since 1975 is 

609 percent. 

Table 3.–Growth of Exempt Entities from 1975 to 2001 

 1975 2001 

percent change 

1975-2001 

 all 501(c)'s 501(c)(3)'s all 501(c)'s 501(c)(3)'s all 501(c)'s 501(c)(3)'s 

Number of returns filed 

 

247,086 108,937 455,321 382,143 184% 351% 

Total assets (millions) 

 

543,554 360,988 2,879,487 2,045,296 530% 567% 

Total revenues 

(millions) 

 

252,157 154,643 1,231,468 942,238 488% 609% 

SOURCE: Joint Committee staff calculations from Tables 5 and 6 in Part IV. 

For additional information about the growth of the exempt sector, see Table 5, Part IV, 

which shows a breakdown of section 501(c)(1)-501(c)(25) organizations in terms of number of 

organizations, total assets, total liabilities, total revenue, program service revenue, contributions 

gifts and grants, gross dues and assessments, and total expenses for years 2001 and 1975. Table 

6, Part IV shows the growth of section 501(c)(3) organizations (including private foundations) 

from 1975 to 2001. These tables also show the composition of the revenue sources for charitable 

organizations, including the size of “program service revenues” relative to other sources of 

revenues. “Program service revenues” are fees collected for services provided by the tax exempt 

organization. Such fees include, for example, patient charges levied by tax exempt hospitals, and 

tuition paid to private, non-profit colleges and universities. Figure 3 shows the composition of 

revenues to tax exempt entities for 1985 through 2001. Program service revenues are 

represented by the gray area on the bottom of the graph. As Figure 3 illustrates, most of the 

growth of revenues in the charitable sector comes from program service revenues. The next, 

darker gray region, contributions, gifts, and grants, has also grown steadily. In contrast, 

memberships (the narrow white strip) has barely grown. And “other,” which includes 

investment income (the light gray area at the top), grew during the stock market bubble of the 

late 1990s, and contracted with the stock market bust. 
25

Figure 3 

Revenue Sources of Charitable Organizations

-

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1,000,000

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

Revenues in millions of dollars

 Other 

 Membership dues and assessments

 Contributions, gifts, and grants

 Program service revenue 

SOURCE: data from www.irs.gov/taxstats/charitablestats/article0. “Table 16: Nonprofit Charitable Organizations and Domestic 

Private Foundation Information Returns and Tax-Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Returns: Selected Financial Data, 

Reporting Years 1985-2001” 

Growth in charitable deductions

The growth in contributions, gifts, and grants to exempt organizations is mirrored by 

growth in the amount of charitable deductions. As illustrated in Figure 4, in 1975, the total 

amount claimed (in constant 2000 dollars) as charitable deductions was $43.664 billion; in 2002, 

the total amount claimed was $144.966 billion, or an increase of 232 percent.14

 14 See also Table 10, Part IV. 
26

Figure 4 

Individual & Corporate Charitable Contributions Deduction

(In Constant 2000 Dollars)

-

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1999 2000 2001 2002

Year

Dollars of Deduction (Millions)

Corporate

Individual

SOURCE: data from Table 10, Part IV. 
27

B. Reasons for Tax Exemption 

In general, the exempt sector has evolved over more than a century’s worth of legislation. 

The first exemptions are found in the Tariff Act of 1894, including exemptions for charitable, 

religious, and educational organizations and certain fraternal beneficiary societies operating 

under the lodge system. As recently as 2001, Congress added a new exempt category to the 

Code.15 Indeed, of the exempt entities described in Part VI of this pamphlet,16 14 exemptions 

were enacted before 1925,17 five were enacted between 1926 and 1950,18 nine were enacted 

between 1951 and 1975,19 and 18 were enacted between 1976 and the present.20 Table 4, 

beginning on page 31 lists many of the existing exempt entities and shows for each type, the year 

the exemption was enacted, the number of entities on the IRS Master File in 2004, the nature of 

its activities, and basic tax treatment. As an initial matter, not all “nonprofit” organizations are 

afforded tax exemption, and not all tax-exempt organizations have the typical characteristics of a 

“nonprofit” organization. The term “nonprofit” generally refers to an organization’s form under 

State law,21 not its Federal tax status. State law generally does not prohibit “nonprofits” from 

earning a profit, as one might expect. Instead, State law typically prohibits the distribution of 

 15 Sec. 501(c)(28) (the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust); Pub. L. No. 107-90, 115 

Stat. 890 (2001). 

16 This includes a description of the characteristics and legislative history of organizations 

described in sections 115, 501(c), 501(d), 501(e), 501(f), 501(k), 501(n), 516, 521, 526, 527, 528, and 

7871, as well as arrangements to provide employee benefits and arrangements for individuals to save for 

health, retirement, and education. 

17 This figure includes the following sections of the current Code or precursors to the following 

sections: 115, 401(a), 501(c)(2), 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5), 501(c)(6), 501(c)(8), 501(c)(12), 

501(c)(13), 501(c)(15), and 521. Certain of these Code sections (sections 501(c)(12) and 521) contain 

more than one category of exemption, each of which was added to the Code at a different time within the 

period. 

18 This figure includes the following sections of the current Code or precursors to the following 

sections: 501(c)(1), 501(c)(9), 501(c)(11), 501(c)(16), and 501(d). 

19 This figure includes the following sections of the current Code or precursors to the following 

sections: 408(e), 501(c)(10), 501(c)(14), 501(c)(17), 501(c)(18), 501(c)(19), 501(e), 501(f), and 527. 

Sections 501(e) and 501(f) each describes a class of entities that qualifies for exemption as charitable 

organizations under section 501(c)(3). 

20 This figure includes the following sections of the Code: 220, 223, 457(g), 501(c)(20), 

501(c)(21), 501(c)(22), 501(c)(23), 501(c)(24), 501(c)(25), 501(c)(26), 501(c)(27), 501(c)(28), 501(k), 

501(n), 528, 529, 530, and 7871. Sections 501(k) and 501(n) each describes a class of entities that 

qualifies for exemption as charitable organizations under section 501(c)(3). 

21 Many States and the District of Columbia have separate corporation law statutes that provide 

for the establishment of nonprofit, or “non-stock,” corporations, i.e., corporations that do not have 

shareholders, and which may or may not have members. 
28

earnings by nonprofit corporations (but not necessarily by other forms of entities) to their 

members. 

The Federal exemption is extended in some instances to organizations that are not subject 

to a State-law constraint on distributions, as some entities are not required for exemption 

purposes to be organized in corporate form. Therefore, exemption may be obtained by some 

organizations that do not fit the classic definition of “nonprofit.” However, the Federal tax laws 

applicable to certain types of exempt organizations (though not all) contain prohibitions, such as 

the “no private inurement” and “no private benefit” doctrines, that are in some respects similar to 

the State-law constraint. The following brief discussion provides a description of some of the 

sometimes overlapping factors that may explain exemption for certain types of organizations.22 

Exemption from tax may be explained based on the nature of an organization’s activities. 

For example, charitable activities or activities that provide a public benefit may be viewed as 

governmental in nature and therefore not appropriate subjects of taxation. This may explain the 

exemption for charitable organizations, social welfare organizations, U.S. instrumentalities, and 

State and local governments. Promotion of certain activities may also be viewed as desirable 

policy, and therefore tax exemption is intended to encourage the activity. This may explain the 

tax exemption for arrangements to provide employee benefits, arrangements for individuals to 

save for health, retirement, and education, and the exemption for small or rural commercial 

organizations that engage in certain activities, such as farming, provision of financial services, 

insurance, electricity, or other public good. 

Exempt status may also be attributable to the structure of an organization. Some 

organizations are funded exclusively by their members and expend all funds exclusively for 

members. If such an organization collects more in membership dues than it expends, the excess 

is reinvested in the organization for the benefit of the members. Under general tax principles, the 

organization may not be considered as having any income because there has not been a shifting 

of benefit from the member to the organization -- the organization merely facilitates a joint 

activity of its members. Thus, in some cases, the Code adopts a result that might occur even in 

the absence of statutory law. This principle is described in 1969 legislative history describing 

the basis for exemption of social clubs (exempt since 1916). 

Since the tax exemption for social clubs and other groups is designed to allow 

individuals to join together to provide recreational or social facilities or other 

benefits on a mutual basis, without tax consequences, the tax exemption operates 

properly only when the sources of income of the organization are limited to 

receipts from the membership. Under such circumstances, the individual is in 

substantially the same position as if he had spent his income in pleasure or 

recreation (or other benefits) without the intervening separate organization.23

 22 For purposes of this discussion, the exempt sector, or exempt entities, when referred to as a 

group, generally means all of the organizations presently described in section 501(c) plus those other 

organizations described in Part VI. 

23 S. Rep. No. 91-552, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 71 (1969). 
29

Other organizations that may fit this model are fraternal organizations, voluntary employees’ 

beneficiary associations, cemetery companies, and homeowners associations.24 This principle 

generally does not extend to exempting nonmember income, such as investment income, from 

tax. Indeed, the legislative history quoted above was in the context of subjecting the investment 

income of social clubs to the unrelated business income tax rules. The structure of an 

organization may also explain in part the exemption for title holding companies, which are 

required to pay all income to an exempt organization.25

Another factor that may explain some cases of tax exemption is the nature of the 

legislative process. Congress did not provide exemption for all organizations that are not 

organized for profit; rather, the general rule is that an organization is subject to tax absent a 

specific exemption.26 Such a rule means that once broad categories of exemption are codified, 

there will be specific classes of organizations that do not fit within the broad category that seek 

and receive exempt status. For example, in 1913, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sought 

exemption for “civic or commercial” organizations, which were not covered by previous 

exemptions,27 and subsequently social welfare organizations and business leagues became 

exempt organizations. Labor, agricultural, and horticultural organizations may be another 

example. Other examples may be cooperative hospital service organizations (sec. 501(e)), 

cooperative service organizations of operating educational organizations (sec. 501(f)), child care 

organizations (sec. 501(k)), and charitable risk pools (sec. 501(n)), which are all treated as 

charitable organizations described within section 501(c)(3) but subject to their own 

organizational and operational requirements not applicable to other charitable organizations. The 

effect is that many categories of exempt status are very narrowly tailored to an organization’s 

specific characteristics.28 

 24 See secs. 501(c)(8), 501(c)(9), 501(c)(10), 501(c)(13), and 528. 

25 Secs. 501(c)(2) and 501(c)(25). However, other feeder organizations, i.e., organizations that 

operate a trade or business for profit and pay all profits to an exempt organization, do not qualify as 

exempt organizations. Sec. 502. 

26 This was not always the case. The first income tax act, the Tariff Act of 1894, 28 Stat. 509, 

(later held unconstitutional) subjected to tax “corporations, companies, or associations doing business for 

profit.” Nonprofits generally were exempt from the tax (by virtue of not doing business for profit). To 

the extent the tax applied, exemption was provided for certain organizations, e.g., “corporations, 

companies or associations organized and conducted solely for charitable, religious, or educational 

purposes,” fraternal beneficiary societies, certain mutual savings banks, and certain mutual insurance 

companies. The default rule changed in the 1913 Revenue Act, Pub. L. No. 63-16, 38 Stat. 114, under 

which the corporate income tax generally applied, unless there was a specific exemption. 

27 Hearings on Tariff Schedules of the Revenue Act of 1913 Before the Subcommittee on the 

Committee on Finance, 63d Cong., 1st Sess., at 2001 (1913).

28 See, for example, domestic fraternal beneficiary societies (sec. 501(c)(10)), teachers’ 

retirement funds (sec. 501(c)(11)), corporations to finance crop operations (sec. 501(c)(16)), religious and 

apostolic organizations (sec. 501(d)), farmers’ cooperatives (sec. 521), shipowners’ protection and 

indemnity associations (sec. 526), and homeowners associations (sec. 528), to name a few. 
30

Another factor to consider is simple expediency, in that taxing certain small organizations 

was viewed at the time the exemption was granted as too costly to administer, especially when 

often little or no tax would be due. This appears partially to explain the reason for exempting 

single-parent title holding companies from tax as well as social clubs. As stated in 1916 

legislative history: “the securing of returns from them has been a source of annoyance and 

expense and has resulted in the collection of either no tax or an amount which is practically 

negligible.”29

 29 H.R. Rep. No. 922, 64th Cong., 1st Sess. 4 (1916) (referring to “corporations similar to those 

enumerated in the present law as exempt from taxation”).
31

Table 4.–Types and Tax Treatment of Section 501(c) Organizations 

Section 

of 

1986 Code 

Description 

of 

Organization 

Year 

Exemption 

was 

Introduced 

General Nature 

of 

Activities 

Subject 

to 

UBIT 

Taxed 

on 

Investment 

Income 

Contributions 

Generally 

Deductible as 

Charitable 

Contributions 

Subject to 

Private 

Inurement 

Restriction 

501(c)(1) 

Corporations organized under Act of Congress 

1934 U.S. instrumentality No Generally No Only if exclusively for public purposes No 

501(c)(2) Title holding corporations 1916 

Holding title to property for another exempt organization 

Yes Generally No No No 

501(c)(3) Charitable organizations 1894 

Religious, charitable, scientific, educational, etc. 

Yes 

Generally No (but private foundations are subject to tax on net investment income) 

Yes Yes 

501(c)(4) Social welfare organizations 1913 

Promoting the common good and general welfare of people of a community 

Yes Generally No No Yes 

501(c)(5) 

Labor, agricultural, and horticultural organizations 

1909 

Betterment of the conditions of those engaged in labor, education, or horticulture 

Yes Generally No No Yes 
32

Section 

of 

1986 Code 

Description 

of 

Organization 

Year 

Exemption 

was 

Introduced 

General Nature 

of 

Activities 

Subject 

to 

UBIT 

Taxed 

on 

Investment 

Income 

Contributions 

Generally 

Deductible as 

Charitable 

Contributions 

Subject to 

Private 

Inurement 

Restriction 

501(c)(6) 

Business leagues, chambers of commerce, trade associations, etc. 

1913 

Improvement of conditions in one or more lines of business 

Yes Generally No No Yes 

501(c)(7) Social clubs 1916 Social or recreational Yes Yes No Yes 501(c)(8) 

Fraternal beneficiary societies 

1894 

Fraternal activities and payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to members 

Yes Generally No 

Only if used for charitable purposes 

No 

501(c)(9) 

Voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations 

1928 

Provides for payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to members or dependents, etc. 

Yes Yes No 

Yes (except for payments of life, sick, accident or other benefits to members) 

501(c)(10) 

Domestic fraternal societies 

1969 Fraternal activities Yes Generally No Only if used for charitable 

purposes 

No 

501(c)(11) 

Teachers’ retirement fund associations 

1928 

Payment of retirement benefits to teachers 

Yes Generally No No Yes, generally 
33

Section 

of 

1986 Code 

Description 

of 

Organization 

Year 

Exemption 

was 

Introduced 

General Nature 

of 

Activities 

Subject 

to 

UBIT 

Taxed 

on 

Investment 

Income 

Contributions 

Generally 

Deductible as 

Charitable 

Contributions 

Subject to 

Private 

Inurement 

Restriction 

501(c)(12) 

Benevolent life insurance associations, rural cooperatives, etc. 

1916 

Activities of a mutually beneficial nature 

Yes Generally No No No 

501(c)(13) Cemetery companies 1913 

Operation of cemetery company or burial and cremation 

Yes Generally No 

Only under certain circumstances (but not for estate and gift tax purposes) 

Yes 

501(c)(14) 

State credit unions and mutual reserve funds 

1951 

Operating credit union for mutual purposes 

Yes Generally No No No 

501(c)(15) 

Certain small insurance companies 

1916 

Providing insurance to members at cost 

Yes Generally No No No 

501(c)(16) Crop-financing corporations 1928 

Financing of crops for section 521 farmers’ cooperative marketing associations 

Yes Generally No No No 
34

Section 

of 

1986 Code 

Description 

of 

Organization 

Year 

Exemption 

was 

Introduced 

General Nature 

of 

Activities 

Subject 

to 

UBIT 

Taxed 

on 

Investment 

Income 

Contributions 

Generally 

Deductible as 

Charitable 

Contributions 

Subject to 

Private 

Inurement 

Restriction 

501(c)(17) 

Supplemental unemployment benefit trusts 

1960 

Payment of supplemental unemployment compensation benefits 

Yes Yes No No 

501(c)(18) Funded pension trusts 1969 

Trust that forms part of a pension plan funded only by employee contributions 

Yes Generally No No No 

501(c)(19) Veterans’ organizations 1972 

Organization of veterans; provision of insurance and other benefits 

Yes 

(but certain 

insurance 

premium income 

excluded from 

UBTI) 

Generally No 

Limited to certain organizations of war veterans for income and gift taxes and to organizations incorporated by Act of Congress for estate tax 

Yes 

501(c)(20) 

(expired for 

taxable years 

beginning after 

June 30, 1992) 

Qualified group legal services plans 

1976 

Provision of legal services benefits 

Yes Yes No No 

501(c)(21) Black lung benefits trusts 1977 Provision of black lung benefits Yes Generally No No No 
35

Section 

of 

1986 Code 

Description 

of 

Organization 

Year 

Exemption 

was 

Introduced 

General Nature 

of 

Activities 

Subject 

to 

UBIT 

Taxed 

on 

Investment 

Income 

Contributions 

Generally 

Deductible as 

Charitable 

Contributions 

Subject to 

Private 

Inurement 

Restriction 

501(c)(22) Multiemployer Plan trusts 1980 

Payment of withdrawal liability and withdrawal-type payments to plans 

Yes Generally No No No 

501(c)(23) 

Pre-1880 veterans’ organizations 

1982 

Organization of veterans; provision of insurance and other benefits 

Yes Generally No 

Limited to certain organizations of war veterans for income gift taxes and to organizations incorporated by Act of Congress for estate tax 

No 

501(c)(24) Employee Trusts 1986 

Used in efforts to recover from an employer that terminated its pension plan assets sufficient to provide certain plan benefits 

Yes Generally No No No 

501(c)(25) 

Multi parent title holding organizations 

1986 

Hold title to assets for multiple parent exempt organizations 

Yes Generally No No No 
36

Section 

of 

1986 Code 

Description 

of 

Organization 

Year 

Exemption 

was 

Introduced 

General Nature 

of 

Activities 

Subject 

to 

UBIT 

Taxed 

on 

Investment 

Income 

Contributions 

Generally 

Deductible as 

Charitable 

Contributions 

Subject to 

Private 

Inurement 

Restriction 

501(c)(26) 

High-risk individuals health care coverage organizations 

1996 

Coverage of medical care to certain high-risk individuals 

Yes Generally No No Yes 

501(c)(27) 

State-sponsored workmens’ compensation insurance organizations 

1996 

Established by a State to reimburse members for losses arising under the workmens’ compensation acts 

Yes Generally No No No 

501(c)(28) 

The National Railroad Investment Trust 

2001 

Manage and invest certain assets of Railroad Retirement System 

Yes Generally No No No 
37

C. Common Tax Law Features of Exempt Organizations 

In general

Despite varying standards regarding qualification for exempt status, different categories 

of exempt organizations share some common characteristics. For example, many types of 

exempt organizations are subject to a prohibition against “private inurement,” and most exempt 

organizations are subject to the general rules regarding the taxation of unrelated business income. 

Contributions to a limited number of exempt organizations are deductible as charitable 

contributions, while contributions to others may be deductible as a business expense but not as a 

charitable contribution. Most exempt organizations also are subject to rules regarding lobbying 

and political campaign activities and are required to file annual information returns. These 

characteristics, each common to at least two or more categories of exempt organization, are 

discussed in the following subsections. 

Private inurement prohibition

The doctrine of private inurement generally prohibits an exempt organization from using 

its assets for the benefit of a person or entity with a close relationship to the organization. The 

private inurement prohibition applies to the following categories of exempt organizations: 

charitable organizations (section 501(c)(3));30 social welfare organizations (section 501(c)(4)); 

agricultural, horticultural, and labor organizations (section 501(c)(5));31 business leagues, trade 

associations, and other organizations exempt from tax under section 501(c)(6); social clubs 

(section 501(c)(7)); voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations (section 501(c)(9)); teachers’ 

retirement fund associations (section 501(c)(11)); cemetery companies (section 501(c)(13)); 

veterans’ organizations (section 501(c)(19)); high-risk individuals health care coverage 

organizations (501(c)(26)), shipowners’ protection and indemnity associations (sec. 526), and 

homeowners associations (sec. 528). 

Section 501(c)(3) provides that an organization will qualify for charitable exempt status 

only if “no part of the net earnings [of the organization] inures to the benefit of any private 

shareholder or individual.” Other sections of the Code describe the inurement prohibition using 

similar language. The regulations under section 501(a), which generally apply to organizations 

subject to the inurement proscription, define “private shareholder or individual” as “persons 

 30 Certain organizations are treated as charitable organizations described within section 501(c)(3) 

but are described elsewhere within section 501, namely cooperative hospital service organizations (sec. 

501(e)), cooperative service organizations of operating educational organizations (sec. 501(f)), child care 

organizations (sec. 501(k)), and charitable risk pools (sec. 501(n)). Such organizations are subject to the 

private inurement prohibition. 

31 Although section 501(c)(5) of the Code does not state that section 501(c)(5) organizations are 

subject to the inurement prohibition, the Treasury regulations extend the prohibition to such 

organizations. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(5)-1(a)(1). 
38

having a personal and private interest in the activities of the organization.”32 Inurement thus 

applies to transactions between applicable exempt organizations and persons sometimes deemed 

“insiders” of the organization, such as directors, officers, and key employees. The issue of 

private inurement often arises where an organization pays unreasonable compensation (i.e., more 

than the value of the services) to such an insider. However, the inurement prohibition is 

designed to reach any transaction through which an insider is unduly benefited by an 

organization, either directly or indirectly. 

There is no “de minimis” exception under the inurement prohibition, and an organization 

that engages in an inurement transaction may face revocation of its exempt status. Until 1996, 

there was no sanction short of revocation of exempt status in the event of an inurement 

transaction. In 1996, however, Congress imposed excise taxes, frequently referred to as 

“intermediate sanctions,” on “excess benefit transactions” between certain exempt organizations 

and “disqualified persons.”33 The intermediate sanctions rules, which apply only to transactions 

involving organizations exempt under sections 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4), impose excise taxes on a 

disqualified person who receives an excess benefit and, under certain circumstances, on 

organization managers who approved the transaction. No such sanctions are presently imposed 

against the organization itself. The intermediate sanctions rules are discussed in greater detail in 

Part II.D of this pamphlet. 

As is discussed in Part II.B, section 501(c)(3) organizations (but not other organizations) 

also are subject to a prohibition against conferring more than incidental “private benefit.” The 

private benefit prohibition applies to non-fair market value transactions with individuals or 

entities, not merely with insiders, and thus is in some respects broader than the private inurement 

prohibition. 

Unrelated business income tax

In general, an exempt organization may have revenue from four sources: contributions, 

gifts, and grants; trade or business income that is related to exempt activities (e.g., program 

service revenue); investment income; and trade or business income that is not related to exempt 

activities. The Federal income tax exemption generally extends to the first three categories, and 

does not extend to an organization’s unrelated trade or business income. In some cases, 

however, the investment income of an organization is taxed as if it were unrelated trade or 

business income.34 

 32 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(a)-1(c). 

33 Disqualified persons essentially are insiders of the organization, including those in a position 

to exercise substantial influence over the organization, as defined in section 4958. 

34 This is the case for social clubs (sec. 501(c)(7)), voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations 

(sec. 501(c)(9)), and organizations and trusts described in section 501(c)(17) and 501(c)(20). Sec. 

512(a)(3). The investment income of certain non-501(c) and non-401(a) organizations not subject to the 

general unrelated business income tax rules also is subject to taxation. See, e.g., sec. 527 (political 

organizations). 
39

As described in Part II.E of this pamphlet, the unrelated business income tax was 

introduced in 1950 to address the problem of unfair competition between for profit companies 

and nonprofit organizations conducting an unrelated for profit activity. The unrelated business 

income tax generally applies to income derived from a trade or business regularly carried on by 

the organization that is not substantially related to the performance of the organization’s 

tax-exempt functions.35 Most exempt organizations are subject to the tax.36 An organization that 

is subject to the unrelated business income tax and that has $1,000 or more of gross unrelated 

business taxable income must report that income on Form 990-T (Exempt Organization Business 

Income Tax Return). 

Most exempt organizations generally may operate an unrelated trade or business so long 

as it is not a primary purpose of the organization. Therefore, engaging in a substantial amount of 

unrelated business activity before jeopardizing exempt status is permitted.37 By contrast, a 

charitable organization may not operate an unrelated trade or business as a substantial part of its 

activities.38 

Certain types of income are specifically exempt from the unrelated business income tax, 

such as dividends, interest, royalties, and certain rents, unless derived from debt-financed 

property or from certain 50-percent controlled subsidiaries. Other exemptions from the unrelated 

business income tax are provided for activities in which substantially all the work is performed 

by volunteers, for income from the sale of donated goods, and for certain activities carried on for 

the convenience of members, students, patients, officers, or employees of a charitable 

organization. In addition, special unrelated business income tax provisions exempt from tax 

certain activities of trade shows and State fairs, income from bingo games, and income from the 

distribution of certain low-cost items incidental to the solicitation of charitable contributions. 

Organizations liable for tax on unrelated business taxable income may be liable for alternative 

minimum tax determined after taking into account adjustments and tax preference items. 

For the tax year 2001, 35,540 organizations filed unrelated business income tax returns, 

reporting a total of $7.9 billion of gross unrelated business income. This translated into 

unrelated business taxable income (after taking into account allowable deductions) of 

 35 Secs. 511-514. 

36 Organizations subject to the unrelated business income tax include all organizations described 

in section 501(c) (except for U.S. instrumentalities and certain charitable trusts), qualified pension, profitsharing, and stock bonus plans described in section 401(a), and certain State colleges and universities. 

Sec. 511(a)(2). 

37 Because the exempt purposes of organizations differ, there may be differences in application 

of the unrelated business income tax rules, in particular, the determination of whether an activity is 

substantially related to an organization’s exempt purposes. 

38 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(e). 
40

approximately $792 million and total tax of approximately $226 million.39 Section 501(c)(3) 

organizations accounted for approximately 41.8 percent of the unrelated business income tax 

returns filed and for approximately 38.2 percent of the total amount of unrelated business income 

tax paid.40 

Debt-financed property

In general, income of a tax-exempt organization that is produced by debt-financed 

property is treated as unrelated business income in proportion to the acquisition indebtedness on 

the income-producing property. For purposes of determining unrelated business income, debtfinanced property generally means any property that is held to produce income and with respect 

to which there is acquisition indebtedness at any time during the taxable year. Acquisition 

indebtedness generally means the amount of unpaid indebtedness incurred by an organization to 

acquire or improve the property and indebtedness that would not have been incurred but for the 

acquisition or improvement of the property. Acquisition indebtedness does not include, 

however, (1) certain indebtedness incurred in the performance or exercise of a purpose or 

function constituting the basis of the organization’s exemption, (2) obligations to pay certain 

types of annuities, (3) an obligation, to the extent it is insured by the Federal Housing 

Administration, to finance the purchase, rehabilitation, or construction of housing for low and 

moderate income persons, or (4) indebtedness incurred by qualified organizations (certain 

educational organizations and pension plans) to acquire or improve real property. Special rules 

apply in the case of an exempt organization that owns a partnership interest in a partnership that 

holds debt-financed income-producing property. An exempt organization’s share of partnership 

income that is derived from such debt-financed property generally is taxed as debt-financed 

income unless an exception provides otherwise. 

Treatment of income from controlled entities

Section 512(b)(13) provides special rules regarding income derived by an exempt 

organization from a controlled subsidiary, and generally treats otherwise excluded rent, royalty, 

annuity, and interest income as unrelated business income if such income is received from a 

taxable or tax-exempt subsidiary that is 50 percent controlled by the parent tax-exempt 

organization. In the case of a stock subsidiary, “control” means ownership by vote or value of 

more than 50 percent of the stock. In the case of a partnership or other entity, control means 

ownership of more than 50 percent of the profits, capital, or beneficial interests. In addition, 

present law applies the constructive ownership rules of section 318 for purposes of section 

512(b)(13). Thus, a parent exempt organization is deemed to control any subsidiary in which it 

holds more than 50 percent of the voting power or value, directly (as in the case of a first-tier 

subsidiary) or indirectly (as in the case of a second-tier subsidiary). Interest, rent, annuity, or 

royalty payments made by a controlled entity to a tax-exempt organization are includable in the 

 39 See Table 6, Part IV; IRS Statistics of Income Division, Unrelated Business Income Tax 

Returns, Tax Year 2001, Winter 2005, at 59. 

40 IRS Statistics of Income Division, Unrelated Business Income Tax Returns, Tax Year 2001, 

Winter 2005, at 61, 80. 
41

latter organization’s unrelated business income and are subject to the unrelated business income 

tax to the extent the payment reduces the net unrelated income (or increases any net unrelated 

loss) of the controlled entity (determined as if the entity were tax exempt). 

Contributions

Another feature of a minority of tax-exempt organizations is that contributions to such 

organizations may be deductible by the donor as charitable contributions for income, estate, and 

gift tax purposes. Contributions to charitable organizations, for example, generally are 

deductible for income, estate, and gift tax purposes, although the amount of deduction may be 

affected by such factors as the recipient organization’s classification as a public charity or private 

foundation (discussed in Part II.D of this pamphlet) and the type of property contributed.41 Other 

types of organizations that are eligible recipients of charitable contributions include: certain 

Federal, State, and local government entities, if the contribution is exclusively for public 

purposes; certain fraternal beneficiary societies, if the contributions are used for charitable 

purposes; cemetery companies, if the contributions are used for certain purposes; and certain 

organizations of war veterans.42

Contributions to other types of exempt organizations generally are not deductible as 

charitable contributions. Under certain circumstances, however, contributions to a membership 

organization, such as a social welfare organization or trade association, may be deductible as a 

business expense under section 162. In addition, contributions to tax-exempt employee benefit 

arrangements (e.g., qualified retirement plans) or individual savings arrangements (such as 

individual retirement accounts) may be deductible. 

Lobbying and political activities

Tax-exempt organizations are also subject to rules regarding the permissible level of 

lobbying and political campaign activities. In general, the lobbying and political activity rules 

applicable to charitable organizations are more severe than the rules applicable to other types of 

exempt organizations. 

 41 For a contribution to a charitable organization to be deductible as a charitable contribution for 

income tax purposes, the contribution must be made to an organization “created or organized in the 

United States or in any possession thereof, or under the law of the United States, any State, the District of 

Columbia, or any possession of the United States.” Sec. 170(c)(2)(A). No such limitation applies under 

the estate and gift tax rules. See secs. 2055(a)(2) and 2522(a)(2). 

42 Sec. 170(c). Certain contributions to cemetery companies are deductible for income tax 

purposes, but not for estate or gift tax purposes. Otherwise, the categories of eligible recipients of 

deductible charitable contributions are largely coextensive for income, estate, and gift tax purposes. See 

secs. 170(c), 2055(a), and 2522(a). 
42

Charitable organizations may engage in only a limited amount of lobbying.43 The two 

alternate tests for determining whether a charitable organization has engaged in excess lobbying 

are described in Part II.B of this pamphlet. Other types of exempt organizations, however, 

generally are not limited in their lobbying activities, so long as the lobbying is related to exempt 

purposes. 

Charitable organizations are subject to an absolute prohibition on political campaign 

activity, which is defined as “participat[ing] in, or interven[ing] in (including the publishing or 

distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any 

candidate for public office.”44 Other exempt organizations generally may engage in political 

campaign activities so long as such activity is not a primary activity of the organization. Certain 

expenditures for political activities may, however, cause an organization to be subject to tax on 

such expenditures.45

As is discussed above, contributions to many types of organizations exempt from tax 

under section 501(c) are not deductible as charitable contributions. However, a section 162 

business expense deduction may be available for some payments to section 501(c) organizations, 

such as payment of membership dues to tax-exempt business leagues. Because a business 

expense deduction is not allowed for certain lobbying and political expenditures,46 present law 

provides a mechanism to prevent the deduction of any portion of membership dues that is 

allocable to nondeductible lobbying expenses. Accordingly, exempt organizations47 (but not 

section 501(c)(3) organizations) generally are required to provide annual information disclosure 

to members (sometimes referred to as “flow-through information disclosure”) estimating the 

portion of their dues allocable to non-deductible lobbying activities. A member receiving such 

disclosure is not permitted a deduction for such portion of dues. If an organization does not 

provide flow-through information disclosure (by its election or otherwise), the organization is 

subject to a proxy tax based on the amount of the organization’s non-deductible lobbying 

expenditures.48

Flow-through information disclosure is not required for an organization that (1) incurs 

only a de minimis amount (i.e., $2,000 or less) of in-house political campaign and lobbying 

expenditures during the taxable year or (2) establishes pursuant to Treasury Department rules 

 43 Lobbying activities of charitable private foundations constitute prohibited “taxable 

expenditures.” See Part II.D. 

44 Sec. 501(c)(3). 

45 Sec. 527(f). 

46 Sec. 162(e). 

47 This includes any organization exempt from tax under section 501 (other than a section 

501(c)(3) organization). 

48 Sec. 6033(e). 
43

that substantially all of its dues monies are paid by members not entitled to deduct such dues in 

computing their taxable income. 

Information returns

Exempt organizations are required to file an annual information return, stating 

specifically the items of gross income, receipts, disbursements, and such other information as the 

Secretary may prescribe.49 The requirement that an exempt organization file an annual 

information return does not apply to certain exempt organizations, including organizations (other 

than private foundations) the gross receipts of which in each taxable year normally are not more 

than $25,000. Also exempt from the requirement are churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and 

conventions or associations of churches; the exclusively religious activities of any religious 

order; certain state institutions whose income is excluded from gross income under section 115; 

an interchurch organization of local units of a church; certain mission societies; certain churchaffiliated elementary and high schools; and certain other organizations, including some that the 

IRS has relieved from the filing requirement pursuant to its statutory discretionary authority.50

Section 501(c)(3) organizations that are classified as public charities must file Form 990 

(Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax)51 and an additional form, Schedule A, which 

requests information specific to section 501(c)(3) organizations. An organization that is required 

to file an information return, but that has gross receipts of less than $100,000 during its taxable 

year, and total assets of less than $250,000 at the end of its taxable year, may file Form 990-EZ. 

Private foundations are required to file Form 990-PF rather than Form 990.52

On the applicable annual information return, organizations are required to report their 

gross income, information on their finances, functional expenses, compensation, activities, and 

other information required by the IRS in order to review the organization’s activities and 

operations during the previous taxable year and to review whether the organization continues to 

meet the statutory requirements for exemption. Examples of the information required by Form 

990 include: (1) a statement of program accomplishments; (2) a description of the relationship of 

 49 Sec. 6033(a). An organization that has not received a determination of its tax-exempt status, 

but that claims tax-exempt status under section 501(a), is subject to the same annual reporting 

requirements and exceptions as organizations that have received a tax-exemption determination. 

50 Sec. 6033(a)(2)(A); Treas. Reg. secs. 1.6033-2(a)(2)(i) and (g)(1). 

51 Social welfare organizations, labor organizations, agricultural organizations, horticultural 

organizations, and business leagues are subject to the generally applicable Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and 

Form 990-T annual filing requirements. 

52 Form 990-PF requires, among other things, reporting of: the foundation’s gross income for the 

year; expenses attributable to such income; disbursements for exempt purposes; total contributions and 

gifts received and the names of all substantial contributors; names, addresses, and compensation of 

officers and directors; an itemized statement of securities and other assets held at the close of the year; an 

itemized statement of all grants made or approved; and information about whether the organization has 

complied with the restrictions applicable to private foundations (secs. 4941 through 4945). 
44

the organization’s activities to the accomplishment of the organization’s exempt purposes; (3) a 

description of payments to individuals, including compensation to officers and directors, highly 

paid employees and contractors, grants, and certain insider transactions and loans; and (4) 

disclosure of certain activities, such as expenses of conferences and conventions, political 

expenditures, compliance with public inspection requirements, and lobbying activities. The IRS 

currently is revising Form 990.
45

II. HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF THE EXEMPT STATUS OF 

SECTION 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATIONS 

A. In General 

The charitable sector53 (i.e., organizations described in section 501(c)(3)) is a significant 

part of the national economy. As noted above, relative to gross domestic product, in 2001, the 

total revenue of charitable organizations (including private foundations but not including 

churches and other organizations not required to file) was 9.3 percent.54 In 2001, of all section 

501(c)(3) organizations filing returns (e.g., excluding churches but including private 

foundations), the total asset value was $2.045 trillion, with total revenues of about $942 billion.55 

In 2004, the number of section 501(c)(3) organizations was 1,010,365.56 With respect to the 

charitable contribution deduction, it is estimated to benefit taxpayers through tax savings of $228 

billion over fiscal years 2005-2009.57 In 2002, the total amount claimed as a charitable 

deduction was about $145 billion.58 

In general, the requirements for exempt status of an organization under section 501(c)(3) 

of the Code are that (1) the organization must be organized and operated exclusively for certain 

purposes; (2) there must not be private inurement to organization insiders; (3) there must be no 

more than an incidental private benefit to private persons who are not organization insiders; (4) 

no substantial part of the organization’s activities may be lobbying; and (5) the organization may 

not participate or intervene in political activities. Permitted purposes are religious, charitable, 

scientific, testing for public safety, literary, educational, the fostering of national or international 

amateur sports competition, or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. Failure to satisfy 

any of these requirements should result in an organization not qualifying for exempt status under 

section 501(c)(3), or should result in a loss of such status once a violation is detected by the IRS. 

Most of the Federal law of charitable organizations is designed around ensuring that each of the 

requirements is satisfied by an organization initially and on an ongoing basis. Each of the 

requirements is simple to state, but none are simple, as each carries with it a significant body of 

statutory, common, and administrative law. 

 53 The word “charitable” generally is used in this pamphlet to include any of the purposes 

described in section 501(c)(3), e.g., religious, educational, scientific, and other. 

54 Joint Committee staff calculation based on information in Table 6, and Gross Domestic 

Product data from Economic Report of the President, February 2005, U.S. GPO, Table B-1. 

55 Joint Committee staff calculations from Tables 5 and 6, Part IV. 

56 Table 7, Part IV. 

57 See Joint Committee on Taxation, Estimates of Federal Tax Expenditures for Fiscal Years 

2005-2009 (JCS-1-05), January 12, 2005. 

58 Table 10, Part IV. 
46

If an organization satisfies each of the requirements, there is a further question of what 

type of charitable organization it is. A section 501(c)(3) organization is either a public charity or 

a private foundation. In general, the basis for distinguishing between public charities and private 

foundations is the level of public support an organization receives over time. Organizations with 

widespread public support tend to qualify as public charities; organizations funded by just a few 

donors tend to be classified as private foundations. There is a substantial body of law detailing 

how to determine whether an organization is publicly supported.59 Certain organizations also 

may qualify as public charities as a matter of law (e.g., churches, hospitals). The classification 

matters because private foundations generally are subject to more restrictions on their activities 

than are public charities, are subject to tax on their net investment income, and contributions to 

private foundations generally do not receive as favorable treatment as do contributions to public 

charities for purposes of the charitable contribution deduction. 

Satisfaction of the requirements for exemption, classification of an organization as a 

public charity or private foundation, plus the resulting benefit that contributions to charitable 

organizations generally are tax deductible provides the simplest snapshot of the law of charitable 

organizations. 

The statutory law regarding the threshold requirements for the income tax exemption of 

charitable organizations is longstanding and has developed as follows: 

• 1894 – The Tariff Act of 1894 provided the first statutory Federal income tax 

exemption for charitable organizations: “nothing herein contained shall apply to ... 

corporations, companies, or associations organized and conducted solely for 

charitable, religious, or educational purposes.” 

• 1909 – The Payne Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909 exempted from a general corporate 

excise tax “any corporation or association organized and operated exclusively for 

religious, charitable, or educational purposes, no part of the net income of which 

inures to the benefit of any private stockholder or individual.” 

• 1913 – The Tariff Act of 1913 exempted from Federal income tax “any corporation or 

association organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, or 

educational purposes, no part of the net income of which inures to the benefit of any 

private shareholder or individual.” Compared to the 1909 excise tax exemption, this 

income tax exemption included corporations organized for scientific purposes. 

 59 As explained in greater detail in Part II.D, an organization may qualify as publicly supported 

under either of two sections of the Code: section 509(a)(1) or section 509(a)(2). An organization 

generally will satisfy the requirements of section 509(a)(1) if it receives at least one-third of its support 

from governmental units and the general public, or, failing this mechanical test, if it satisfies a “facts and 

circumstances” test. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.170A-9(e)(2) and (3). Section 509(a)(2) generally extends public 

charity status to organizations that receive extensive public support through the operation of trades of 

businesses that are related to such organizations’ exempt purposes, as well as from contributions, grants 

and the like. Certain other organizations qualify for public charity status regardless of whether they meet 

one of the above-described public support tests. See secs. 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(a)(i) through (v); sec. 

509(a)(3); sec. 509(a)(4). 
47

• 1918 – The Revenue Act of 1918 expanded the list of charitable purposes to include 

the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. 

• 1921 – The Revenue Act of 1921 expanded the type of organizations eligible for 

exemption to include any community chest, fund, or foundation, and added literary 

purposes to the list of exempt purposes. 

• 1934 – The Revenue Act of 1934 added the requirement that no substantial part of an 

organization’s activities may be lobbying (i.e., the carrying on of “propaganda” or 

“attempting to influence legislation”). 

• 1954 – The Revenue Code of 1954 added the requirement that charitable 

organizations may not participate or intervene in political activity. The Act also 

added testing for public safety as an exempt purpose. 

• 1969 – The Tax Reform Act of 1969 codified the distinction between public charities 

and private foundations and imposed a series of excise taxes on private foundations. 

• 1976 – The Tax Reform Act of 1976 established an elective standard for determining 

whether a public charity’s lobbying activities were permitted and imposed excise 

taxes on excess lobbying activities. The Act also added the fostering of national or 

international amateur sports competition as an exempt purpose. 

• 1987 – The Revenue Act of 1987 imposed excise taxes on the lobbying activities of 

public charities and clarified that political campaign activities may not be conducted 

“in opposition to” a candidate. 

• 1996 – The Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 of 1996 imposed excise taxes on “excess 

benefit transactions” between a charitable organization and an insider of the 

organization. 

To summarize the major provisions: the initial statutory income tax exemption of 1913 

included religious, charitable, scientific, and educational purposes, and also contained the 

prohibition on private inurement. The lobbying restriction originated in 1934, and the ban on 

political activity was introduced in 1954, each of which was supplemented with an excise tax 

regime in 1976 and 1987 respectively. The present law classification of public charities and 

private foundations and the stricter regulation of private foundations occurred in 1969,60 and 

taxes on insider transactions involving public charities were enacted in 1996. There are 

numerous other Code sections that affect charitable organizations that are not detailed above. 

The most significant are the charitable contribution deduction, which first appeared in 1917 for 

contributions to organizations and associations organized and operated exclusively for religious, 

charitable, scientific, or educational purposes, or to societies for the prevention of cruelty to 

children or animals; and the rules imposing taxation on the unrelated business income of exempt 

organizations (including charitable organizations), which were introduced in 1950. 

 60 As discussed in Part II.D, prior to 1969 foundations were distinguished from other charities, 

but it was the 1969 Act that codified the distinction. 
48

B. Summary of Threshold Requirements of Charitable Status 

In general

The threshold requirements for exempt status can be broken down into three categories. 

The first category concerns whether the organization and operation of an organization is 

exclusively for exempt purposes. This requirement addresses whether and to what extent an 

organization’s activities further exempt purposes. Read in conjunction with the meaning of a 

charitable purpose, a narrow or broad reading of the operational test helps to define the scope of 

the charitable sector. The organizational test also sets structural limits on an organization, 

including that the organization’s assets be dedicated to charity in perpetuity. The second 

category concerns the use of a charitable organization’s assets to benefit private parties, i.e., the 

“private inurement” and “private benefit” doctrines. These are designed to ensure that charitable 

funds are used exclusively to further public (or charitable) purposes and not private ends. The 

third category concerns the politics-related activities of lobbying and electoral activity. 

Although the historical rationale for these rules is less clear, their longstanding pedigree has 

established the policy of strict limits on a charitable organization’s activities in the political 

process. Failure to satisfy any of the requirements may result in loss of tax exemption. In 

addition to satisfying each of the statutory and regulatory requirements, the courts have held that 

an organization’s purpose must not be contrary to public policy.61

Organized and operated test -- present law

In general

By statute, an organization qualifies as charitable only if it is organized and operated 

exclusively for exempt purposes. The regulations require in addition that an organization serve a 

public rather than a private interest.62 

Organizational test

Satisfaction of the organizational test may be achieved by adopting certain formal 

requirements in the founding documents of the organization. For example, an organization must 

limit its purposes to one or more exempt purposes and must not be permitted to engage in 

activities that do not further exempt purposes (except to an insubstantial extent). Thus, a 

charitable organization may not have something noncharitable as its purpose.63 For example, an 

organization empowered “to engage in a manufacturing business” does not meet the 

organizational test, regardless of the fact that the articles of incorporation state the organization 

 61 See, e.g., Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574, 595 (1983). 

62 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(1)(ii) and (iii). 

63 This is so even if the organization’s operations are consistent with charitable purposes. Treas. 

Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(b)(1)(iv). 
49

is created for charitable purposes.64 In addition, the organizational documents generally must 

prohibit violation of the lobbying and legislative prohibitions, and must provide that the 

organization’s assets are dedicated to an exempt purpose in perpetuity.65 An organization’s 

assets are considered dedicated to an exempt purpose if, for example, upon dissolution, such 

assets are distributed for one or more exempt purposes, or to the Federal government, or to a 

State or local government, for a public purpose.66 An organization fails the organizational test if 

its articles of organization empower it to engage in activities that characterize it as an “action” 

organization, e.g., if its primary purpose may be accomplished only by legislation and it 

advocates for such aim. 

Operational test

The operational test generally requires that an organization operate consistent with the 

requirements of the Code, i.e., the private inurement, lobbying, and political activities rules must 

be adhered to in the organization’s operations.67 Violation of such requirements means an 

organization fails the operational test, is therefore not operated exclusively for charitable 

purposes, and should lose tax-exempt status. 

Exclusively operated for exempt purposes -- the primary purpose test.–The operational 

test enforces and explicates the Code requirement that an organization be operated exclusively 

for exempt purposes. Under Treasury regulations, an organization is regarded as operating 

exclusively for exempt purposes “only if it engages primarily in activities which accomplish” 

exempt purposes.68 “An organization will not be so regarded if more than an insubstantial part 

of its activities is not in furtherance of an exempt purpose.”69 Thus, under the regulations, 

“exclusively” is not given its common sense meaning of “solely” but rather is construed as 

“primarily,” with the result that an organization may to a certain extent be operated for 

nonexempt purposes.70 In other words, the law expressly permits a charitable organization to 

conduct activities that do not accomplish exempt purposes, so long as such activities are not 

substantial. In addition, as held by the Supreme Court, “the presence of a single [nonexempt] 

purpose, if substantial in nature, will destroy the exemption regardless of the number or 

 64 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(b)(1)(iii). 

65 See Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(b)(3) and (4). 

66 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501-1(b)(4). 

67 See Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(c). 

68 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(c)(1) (emphasis added). 

69 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(c)(1). 

70 As a practical matter, if “exclusively” were construed by regulations in its ordinary sense, an 

organization would not be permitted to engage in unrelated business income tax activities, rendering the 

unrelated business income tax rules moot.
50

importance of truly [exempt] purposes.”71 Applying this test, the Court held that an organization 

with an “important” nonexempt purpose was subject to tax. Thus, under the regulation, 

insubstantial nonexempt activities are consistent with exempt status, and, under the Court’s 

holding, nonsubstantial nonexempt purposes are consistent with exempt status. 

Application of the primary purpose test.–Neither the Code nor regulations provide a clear 

standard for determining the existence or nonexistence of a substantial nonexempt purpose. In 

the absence of bright line rules, the courts have applied a facts and circumstances approach. 

According to the Tax Court, “[f]actors such as the particular manner in which an organization’s 

activities are conducted, the commercial hue of those activities, and the existence and amount of 

annual or accumulated profits are relevant evidence of a forbidden predominant purpose.”72 

In applying the primary purpose test, however, it is “the purpose towards which an 

organization’s activities are directed, and not the nature of the activities themselves, [that are] 

ultimately dispositive.”73 The test’s goal is to identify the charity’s primary purposes. In other 

words, an activity may be commercial in nature and still further exempt purposes. Thus, an 

organization may have a trade or business as its primary activity and be a charitable organization 

so long as the trade or business accomplishes exempt purposes.74 The regulations expressly 

permit an organization to operate a trade or business as a substantial part of its activities so long 

as the operation of such trade or business is in furtherance of exempt purposes and the 

organization is not organized or operated for the primary purpose of carrying on an unrelated 

trade or business.75

The analysis of whether activities further exempt purposes can be problematic. Because 

an activity can further both an exempt and a nonexempt purpose, focusing solely on the nature of 

the activity without asking how that activity is related to the charity's purpose can lead to 

erroneous results.76 For example, the provision of legal services generally is not an exempt 

 71 Better Business Bureau of Washington, D.C. v. United States, 326 U.S. 279, 283 (1945).

72 B.S.W. Group, Inc. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 352, 358 (1978); see also Fides Publishing v. 

United States, 263 F. Supp. 924 (N.D. Ind. 1967) (holding that an independent, profit-making publisher of 

specialized literature was operated for a business purpose); see also Washington Research Foundation v. 

Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1985-570 (upholding revocation of educational organization’s exemption 

because it failed to show it would not compete with commercial firms); compare Peoples Translation 

Service/Newsfront Int’l v. Commissioner, 72 T.C. 42, 49 (1979) (setting rates below cost distinguished 

organization from organizations denied exempt status). 

73 B.S.W. Group, Inc. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. at 356.

74 Under the Code an organization may not have as its primary purpose the conduct of a trade or 

business for profit, even if the entire proceeds from the business are dedicated to charitable purposes. 

Sec. 502. 

75 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(e)(1). 

76 B.S.W. Group, Inc. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. at 357.
51

activity; however, the provision of free legal services for residents of economically depressed 

communities accomplishes an exempt activity, notwithstanding the fact that the charitable 

organization subsidizes the services through salaries to the attorneys performing the services. 

The IRS stated that “[t]he fact that the recipients of the organization’s financial assistance, the 

legal interns, are not themselves members of a charitable class does not mean the organization is 

not operating primarily for charitable purposes. The interns are merely the instruments by which 

the charitable purposes are accomplished.”77 Thus, although the performance of the activity of 

the organization (legal services) directly benefited noncharitable beneficiaries (the attorney), the 

primary purpose of the organization was to provide free legal services to the disadvantaged and 

the organization’s primary purpose was found to be charitable. 

Commerciality doctrine.–If an organization conducts a trade or business that is not 

related to exempt purposes, the question under the operational test is whether such activity is 

substantial. If so, then the organization should lose exempt status under what generally is known 

as the commerciality doctrine.78 Under the commerciality doctrine, exempt status is denied if 

unrelated trade or business activities are substantial in relation to charitable activities because a 

primary purpose of the organization is unrelated commercial pursuits. However, as a practical 

matter, the fact that there is a tax on the unrelated business income of charities has the effect of 

condoning the conduct of substantial unrelated commercial activity, making enforcement of the 

commerciality doctrine a test for substantiality, which is a difficult inquiry. The commerciality 

doctrine generally will be invoked in cases where the organization pays no unrelated business 

income tax on clearly substantial commercial activity, and therefore the organization “looked” 

more like a for profit enterprise than a charitable one.79 For example, the IRS and courts have 

 77 Rev. Rul. 72-559, 1972-2 C.B. 247. Similarly, student loan organizations may qualify for 

exemption despite the fact that lending activities traditionally are commercial. See Rev. Rul. 61-87, 

1961-1 C.B. 191 (holding that an organization’s purpose of helping students attain an education is a 

charitable purpose, and the mere fact that interest is charged on loans is not sufficient, of itself, to deny 

exemption). 

78 This doctrine originated in 1924 in the Supreme Court decision Trinidad v. Sagrada Orden de 

Predicadores, 263 U.S. 578 (1924). 

79 See, e.g., Living Faith, Inc. v. Commissioner, 950 F.2d 365, 373-74 (7th Cir. 1991) (holding 

that activities of organization whose primary activity consists of operating restaurants and food stores, 

were “presumptively commercial”); Federation Pharmacy Services, Inc. v. Commissioner, 625 F.2d 804, 

808 (8th Cir. 1980) (holding that pharmaceutical service did not qualify as tax-exempt because it relied 

financially on sale of prescription drugs to public with no accommodation made for those unable to pay 

and that, consequently, it was engaged in competition with for-profit pharmacies); Fides Publishers 

Association v. United States, 263 F. Supp. 924, 936 (N.D. Ind. 1967) (holding that publisher of 

specialized literature designed to promulgate the “Catholic Action” movement operated for a business 

purpose so as to disqualify it from exemption). As one commentator points out, the IRS tends to argue 

cases as either raising an exemption issue under the commerciality doctrine or an unrelated business 

income tax issue, but the intersection of the two issues generally is not considered. John D. Colombo, 

Commercial Activity and the Charitable Tax Exemption, 44 William & Mary L. Rev. 487, 508 (2002).
52

invoked the commerciality doctrine to revoke the exempt status of organizations with substantial 

commercial publishing activities.80

Nonetheless, to avoid the possible application of the commerciality doctrine to substantial 

unrelated business activities (and for other reasons), some charitable organizations establish 

subsidiary corporations to conduct an unrelated activity. The IRS generally recognizes the 

separate identity of the corporate form81 and thus, in general, the unrelated activities of the (often 

taxable) subsidiary will not be imputed to the charitable parent organization. By using a taxable 

subsidiary, a charitable organization generally can avoid application of the primary purpose test 

to the activities of its subsidiary. Special rules exist on treatment of payments from a subsidiary 

to a charitable parent.82

Dissolution of an exempt organization.–Under the organizational test, a charitable 

organization must pledge to distribute its assets for exempt purposes upon dissolution. However, 

unlike other organizational requirements, there is in effect no enforcement mechanism of this 

requirement, at least with respect to public charities, if it is violated in an organization’s 

operations.83 Although the operational test affects distributions resulting in private inurement, 

and so could impact a dissolution of assets where private inurement results, even so, the remedy 

would be to revoke exempt status, an implausible penalty to levy against an organization that 

already has relinquished or intends to relinquish exempt status. Although the revocation could in 

some cases be retroactive to dissolution, recovery of any past taxes due would be unlikely. 

Prohibition against private inurement and private benefit

In general

As discussed above, charitable organizations may not permit private benefit or private 

inurement. Private benefit occurs if the assets or revenues of the exempt organization are used to 

benefit an individual or entity more than incidentally. Inurement, a narrower concept, arises 

whenever a person in a position to influence the decisions of an exempt organization (i.e., an 

“insider” of the organization) receives benefits from the organization disproportionate to her 

 80 Scripture Press Foundation v. United States, 285 F.2d 800 (Ct. Cl. 1961) (holding that an 

organization that prepared and sold religious literature was not operated primarily for charitable purposes 

and was nothing more than a for-profit publisher. The court found that expenditures on educational 

activities were “unaccountably small” in comparison to the surplus revenues accumulated annually.); see 

also Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co. v. Commissioner, 79 T.C. 1070, 1090 (1982), rev’d, 743 

F.2d 148 (3d Cir. 1984).

81 Moline Properties, Inc. v. Commissioner, 319 U.S. 436 (1943). 

82 Sec. 512(b)(13).

83 Private foundations, unlike public charities, are subject to a tax on termination of the 

foundation unless the dedication of assets requirement is met. Sec. 507. 
53

contribution to the organization (e.g., unreasonable compensation).84 The relationship between 

inurement and private benefit was clarified by the Tax Court in American Campaign Academy v. 

Commissioner.

85 There, the court explained that “while the prohibitions against private 

inurement and private benefit[] share common and overlapping elements, the two are distinct 

requirements which must independently be satisfied.”86 The court stated that the presence of 

private inurement violates both prohibitions, but the absence of inurement does not mean the 

absence of private benefit. Inurement, then, may be viewed as a subset of private benefit. This 

relationship between private inurement and private benefit is important because in situations in 

which an individual does not rise to the level of insider within an organization, the IRS still 

would apply a private benefit analysis to the individual’s relationship with the organization. 

Both private inurement and private benefit may occur in many different forms, including, 

for example, excessive compensation;87 payment of excessive rent;88 receipt of less than fair 

market value in sales or exchanges of property;89 inadequately secured loans;90 other 

questionable loans;91 joint venture activities; 92 or conversion transactions.93 

 84 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(c)(2). For purposes of section 501, Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(a)-

1(c) defines a “private shareholder or individual” as persons having a personal and private interest in the 

activities of the organization.

85 92 T.C. 1053 (1989). 

86 Id. at 1068-69 (internal citations omitted). 

87 Harding Hospital, Inc. v. United States, 505 F.2d 1068, 1072 (6th Cir. 1974).

88 Texas Trade School v. Commissioner, 30 T.C. 642 (1958), aff’d, 272 F.2d 168 (5th Cir. 1959). 

89 Sonora Community Hospital v. Commissioner, 46 T.C. 519, 526 (1966). 

90 Lowery Hospital Association v. Commissioner, 66 T.C. 850, 858-59 (1976). 

91 Founding Church of Scientology v. United States, 412 F.2d 1197, 1202 (Ct. Cl. 1969), cert. 

denied, 397 U.S. 1009 (1970). 

92 Although charitable organizations are not prohibited from entering into joint ventures, the 

presence of a for-profit partner may raise private inurement and private benefit issues. Redlands Surgical 

Services v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 47, 74-75 (1999), aff’d, 242 F.3d 904 (9th Cir. 2001). 

93 Some charitable organizations, especially in recent years hospitals and other health care 

providers, convert from charitable to for-profit status, resulting in significant amounts of charitable assets 

being converted to for-profit uses. Private benefit and private inurement can occur during the conversion 

process if charitable assets are transferred for below fair market value. See Evelyn Brody, Whose Public? 

Parochialism and Paternalism in State Charity Law Enforcement, 79 Indiana L. J. 937, 962-63 (Fall 

2004) (“[c]ommunities have been worrying about behind-closed-doors sales of nonprofit hospital assets: 

the community might be short-changed either in the amount paid for the assets (and hence the funds 

available for future charity) or in the quality and price of future for-profit hospital services”). 
54

History of the proscription on private inurement and private benefit

In general, throughout the history of the corporation income tax, Congress has confined 

exemption to organizations that in legal structure and operation are basically nonprofit in 

character in the sense that they are neither organized nor operated for pecuniary gain of 

stockholders or others standing in relationship to the organizations as investors for private gain, 

nor for the economic benefit of any individual, other than through the proper performance of 

functions characteristic of the particular class of organizations for which exemption is provided. 

The private inurement clause of section 501(c)(3) dates to the Corporation Excise Tax 

Act of 1909.94 The legislative history shows that the language was added to provide assurance 

that the exemption for charities was limited only to those institutions that have no element of 

personal gain and that are exclusively devoted to exempt purposes.95 The inurement clause in 

the charity exemption provisions of the 1909 Act was repeated in each of the subsequent major 

income, estate and gift tax charity provisions.96

Conceptually, the private benefit doctrine is implicit in the charitable exemption as part 

of the requirement that an organization operate exclusively for exempt purposes. When an 

organization operates for the benefit of private interests such as designated individuals, the 

creator or his family, shareholders of the organization, or persons controlled, directly or 

indirectly, by such private interests, the organization by definition does not operate exclusively 

for exempt purposes.97 The proscription against private benefit corresponds to a similar 

proscription in the law of charitable trusts providing that “[a] trust is not a charitable trust if the 

property or the income therefrom is to be devoted to a private use.”98 

Private inurement

The inurement prohibition, although stated in terms of the net earnings of an 

organization, applies to any of an organization’s charitable assets and is not limited to the net 

profits shown on the books of the organization or the surplus of gross receipts over 

disbursements.99 Similarly, net earnings may inure to the benefit of an individual in ways other 

 94 Corporation Excise Tax Act of 1909, ch. 6, sec. 38, 36 Stat. 11 (1909).

95 44 Cong. Rec. 4150 (1909) (remarks of Sen. Bacon) 

96 For example, the 1913 Act provided an exemption from taxation for any corporation or 

association organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, or educational 

purposes, “no part of the net income of which inures to the benefit of any private stockholder or 

individual.” 38 Stat. 172 (1913). The Revenue Act of 1918 altered the “no part of the net income” 

language in the inurement provision to read “no part of the net earnings.” The private inurement clause 

also was incorporated in other exemption provisions. See Part I.C. 

97 American Campaign Academy v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. 1053, 1065-66 (1989). 

98 Restatement (Second) of Trusts sec. 376 (1959). 

99 Harding Hospital, Inc. v. United States, 505 F.2d 1068, 1072 (6th Cir. 1974). 
55

than through the distribution of dividends.100 Inurement may be found even though the amounts 

involved are small or de minimis.101 Although insiders are subject to the inurement proscription, 

economic dealings between such individuals and the related organization are permitted. For 

example, the payment of reasonable compensation to officers or employees is permitted.102

Historically, the only sanction for a private inurement violation was the revocation of the 

organization’s tax exemption. The intermediate sanctions rules enacted in 1996, however, 

provide a sanction short of revocation of tax exemption for cases of private inurement. In 

general, these rules allow the IRS to impose an excise tax on insiders who improperly benefit 

from transactions with charitable organizations (and social welfare organizations) and on 

organization managers.103 

Private benefit

Unlike the absolute prohibition against private inurement, de minimis private benefit is 

permitted. If private benefit exists, it must be incidental in both a qualitative and quantitative 

sense to the public benefit. To be qualitatively incidental, a private benefit must occur as a 

necessary concomitant of the activity that benefits the public at large; in other words, the benefit 

to the public cannot be achieved without necessarily benefiting private individuals.104 Such 

benefits might also be characterized as indirect or unintentional. To be quantitatively incidental, 

a benefit must be insubstantial when viewed in relation to the public benefit conferred by the 

activity.105

A fact pattern in which more than incidental private benefit accrued to physicians from 

the activities of a hospital was discussed in Sonora Community Hospital v. Commissioner.

106 In 

that case, two doctors who previously had owned the hospital facilities and founded the hospital 

in question shared in the fees from the privately-operated laboratory and X-ray departments 

within the hospital even though they performed no associated services. The Tax Court found 

 100 Id. 

101 Spokane Motorcycle Club v. United States, 222 F. Supp. 151, 153 (E.D. Wash. 1963). 

102 World Family Corp. v. Commissioner, 81 T.C. 958, 969 (1983) (stating that the law “places 

no duty on individuals operating charitable organizations to donate their services; they are entitled to 

reasonable compensation for their efforts.”). Whether compensation is reasonable is a question of fact. 

Founding Church of Scientology v. United States, 412 F.2d 1197, 1200 (Ct. Cl. 1969), cert. denied, 397 

U.S. 1009 (1970). 

103 Sec. 4958. 

104 See American Campaign Academy v. Commissioner, 92 T.C. at 1076. 

105 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 19.10 (8th ed. 2003). 

106 46 T.C. 519, 526 (1966), aff’d, 397 F.2d 814 (9th Cir. 1968). 
56

that this demonstrated that the hospital was operated to a considerable extent for the private 

benefit of the two founding doctors, rather than exclusively as a charitable organization. 

Political and lobbying activities of charitable organizations

In general

Charitable organizations are prohibited from engaging in political activity and face 

limitations on the amount of permissible lobbying activity. 

Legislative history

The principal statutory rules regarding the lobbying and political activities of charitable 

organizations were enacted in 1934 and 1954 respectively. The statutory scheme developed as 

follows: 

• 1934 – The Revenue Act of 1934 added the requirement that no substantial part of an 

organization’s activities may be lobbying (i.e., the carrying on of “propaganda” or 

“attempting to influence legislation”). 

• 1954 – The Revenue Code of 1954 added the requirement that charitable 

organizations may not participate or intervene in political campaign activity. 

• 1976 – The Tax Reform Act of 1976 established an elective standard for determining 

whether a public charity’s lobbying activities are insubstantial and imposed excise 

taxes on excess lobbying activities.107

• 1987 – The Revenue Act of 1987 imposed excise taxes on the political campaign 

activities of charitable organizations and clarified that political campaign activities 

may not be conducted “in opposition to” a candidate. 

History of the lobbying rule.–The 1934 rule limiting lobbying was accepted by the Senate 

as a floor amendment and enacted after word changes in conference that deleted a reference to 

“partisan politics.”108 The amendment had been considered but rejected by the Finance 

Committee, where, according to floor statements by two Senators, the intent was to deny a 

deduction for contributions that were to be used to influence legislation. Such contributions 

were viewed as “selfish” and “made to advance the personal interests of the giver of the 

 107 Sec. 501(h). 

108 78 Cong. Rec. 5861 (1934). 
57

money.”109 The Senators noted that the language of the amendment was not well phrased, yet it 

is largely the language that was enacted.110

Four years before, the case of Slee v. Commissioner111 had been decided. In an opinion 

by Learned Hand, the court held that an organization was not an exempt charitable organization 

because a significant purpose of the organization was “political agitation,” or in modern 

parlance, lobbying activity. Although the organization conducted charitable programs relating to 

procreation, the organization also “agitat[ed] for the repeal of laws preventing birth control.” 

Noting that “[p]olitical agitation as such is outside the statute” and therefore that the 

organization’s purposes were not “exclusively” charitable, educational, or scientific, the court 

upheld the lower court’s denial of deductions for contributions to the organization. 

The 1934 legislation limiting lobbying activity affirms some aspects of Slee and modifies 

others. If Slee had been decided after 1934, the organization’s lobbying activity likely would 

have been consistent with exempt status, so long as the lobbying was not substantial. Deductions 

to the organization thus would have been permitted. However, to the extent that lobbying was a 

substantial activity for the organization, the Slee holding survives enactment of the lobbying 

limitation. 

History of the political activities ban.–Similar to the lobbying rule, there is little 

legislative history regarding the political campaign activities ban. This rule also originated as a 

Senate floor amendment, offered by Senator Lyndon Johnson in order to “deny[] . . . tax-exempt 

status to not only those people who influence legislation but also to those who intervene in any 

political campaign on behalf of any candidate for any public office.”112 Senator Johnson 

evidently was concerned that a charitable organization was providing funds to an electoral 

opponent in a primary election.113

Lobbying activities -- present law

As noted, under present law, an organization does not qualify for tax-exempt status as a 

charitable organization unless “no substantial part” of its activities constitutes “carrying on 

propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation” (commonly referred to as 

 109 Statement of Senator David A. Reed, 78 Cong. Rec. 5861 (1934). Senator Byron P. Harrison 

noted that “there are certain organizations which are receiving contributions in order to influence 

legislation and carry out propaganda. The Committee thought there ought to be an amendment which 

would stop that.” 78 Cong. Rec. 5959 (1934). 

110 Senator Reed stated that the intent of the amendment was not to affect “worthy institions.” 78 

Cong. Rec. 5861 (1934).

111 42 F.2d 184 (2d Cir. 1930). 

112 100 Cong. Rec. 9604 (1954). 

113 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 12.1(a) (8th ed. 2003). 
58

“lobbying”).114 Public charities may engage in limited lobbying activities, provided that such 

activities are not substantial, without losing their tax-exempt status and generally without being 

subject to tax. In contrast, private foundations are subject to a restriction that lobbying activities, 

even if insubstantial, may result in the foundation being subject to penalty excise taxes.115 For 

purposes of determining whether lobbying activities are a substantial part of a public charity’s 

overall functions, a public charity may choose between two standards, the “substantial part” test 

or the “expenditure” test.116

The substantial part test derives from the statutory language quoted above and uses a 

facts and circumstances approach to measure the permissible level of lobbying activities. 

Because there is no statutory or regulatory guidance clarifying this standard, it is not clear 

whether the determination is based on the organization’s activities, its expenditures, or both. An 

arithmetical percentage test (e.g., looking only at the percentage of the budget, or employee’s 

time spent on lobbying), although relevant, has been held not determinative. If public charities 

exceed the substantial part standard, they risk losing their tax exemption. In addition, excise 

taxes may be imposed if a public charity (other than certain religious organizations) ceases to 

qualify for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) due to its substantial lobbying activities.117

The expenditure test sets specific dollar limits, calculated as a percentage of a charity’s 

total exempt purpose expenditures, on the amount a charity may spend to influence legislation.118 

The test establishes two expenditure limits: one restricts the total amount of lobbying 

expenditures the public charity can make, the other restricts grass roots lobbying expenditures as 

a subset of total lobbying expenditures. A public charity’s total lobbying expenditures for a year 

are the sum of its expenditures for direct lobbying and its expenditures for grass roots lobbying. 

The allowable amount of lobbying expenditures that can be made for any tax year is determined 

under a sliding-scale formula. In no event can the allowable amount of lobbying for a charity 

electing the expenditure test exceed $1 million for any year.119 A charity wishing to be subject to 

the expenditure test must affirmatively elect to do so.120 Charities that do not file an election 

(and certain religious organizations) are subject to the substantial part test.121

 114 Sec. 501(c)(3). 

115 Sec. 4945(d)(1). 

116 Secs. 501(c)(3), 501(h), and 4911. Churches and certain church-related entities may not 

choose the expenditure test. Sec. 501(h)(5). 

117 Sec. 4912. 

118 Secs. 501(h) and 4911. 

119 Sec. 4911(c)(2). 

120 The election is known as the “section 501(h) election.” 

121 Churches and church related entities were precluded from making a section 501(h) election in 

response to their specific request. At the time section 501(h) was enacted, churches were concerned that 
59

Political campaign activities -- present law

As noted, under present law, charitable organizations may not participate in, or intervene 

in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of 

(or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.122 The prohibition on such political 

campaign activity is absolute and, in general, includes activities such as making contributions to 

a candidate’s political campaign, endorsements of a candidate, lending employees to work in a 

political campaign, or providing facilities for use by a candidate. Many other activities may 

constitute political campaign activity, depending on the facts and circumstances. The sanction 

for a violation of the prohibition is loss of the organization’s tax-exempt status. 

In general, activities that are educational are permitted. An organization may advocate a 

particular position or conduct an educational activity that is related to the political process, but 

the advocacy or activity must be unbiased and nonpartisan. The IRS will look to the method 

used by the organization in advocating a position to determine whether educational purposes are 

met.123 However, even if an organization’s activities in general are educational, a particular 

activity may violate the political campaign activities ban. As to specific activities, public 

charities generally may provide a forum for debates by candidates, so long as the forum is fair 

and neutral and all qualified candidates are given equal time for debate.124 Voter registration and 

get-out-the-vote projects by public charities generally are permitted so long as the activity is 

conducted in a nonpartisan and fair manner.125 Other forms of voter education, such as 

publication of voter guides, also may be permissible if certain guidelines are followed.126 The 

prohibition on political campaign activity is not intended to restrict free expression on political 

matters by persons speaking for themselves as individuals and not as representatives of a 

charitable organization. 

 

accepting eligibility for the election would undermine their position that constitutional law prohibits 

limitations on their free speech. Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform 

Act of 1976 (JCS-33-76), December 29, 1976, at 415. Churches also were concerned that extending the 

law to churches could be construed as Congressional approval for a court decision that upheld the 

revocation of a church’s tax-exemption for excess lobbying activity. Id. at 415-16; Christian Echoes 

National Ministry, Inc. v. United States, 470 F.2d 849 (10th Cir. 1972). 

122 Sec. 501(c)(3). 

123 “[T]he method used by an organization in advocating its position, rather than the position 

itself, is the standard for determining whether an organization has educational purposes.” Rev. Proc. 86-

43, 1986-2 C.B. 729. 

124 See Rev. Rul. 86-95, 1986-2 C.B. 73. 

125 Special rules apply to the conduct of political activities by private foundations, such as voter 

registration drives. See secs. 4945(d)(2) and 4945(f). 

126 Rev. Rul. 78-248, 1978-1 C.B. 154. 
60

For organizations that engage in prohibited political campaign activity, the Code provides 

three penalties that may be applied either as alternatives to revocation of tax exemption or in 

addition to loss of tax-exempt status: an excise tax on political expenditures,127 termination 

assessment of all taxes due,128 and an injunction against further political expenditures.129 

A charitable organization may engage in political activity that does not amount to 

political campaign activity without violating the political campaign activity ban;130 however, 

such political activity may be subject to tax.131 For example, attempting to influence the 

nomination of an individual to a public office is political activity, but is not political campaign 

activity. 

 127 Sec. 4955. 

128 Sec. 6852(a)(1). 

129 Sec. 7409. 

130 Gen. Couns. Mem. 39694 (January 21, 1988) (noting that political activity as defined in 

section 527, relating to political organizations, is broader than the prohibited political campaign activity 

of section 501(c)(3), and thus charitable organizations may be subject to tax as a political organization).

131 Sec. 527(f). 
61

C. Exempt Purposes of Section 501(c)(3) Organizations 

In general

The Code lists the exempt purposes that may qualify an organization for exemption as a 

charitable organization,132 including religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational 

purposes. The meaning of such purposes is left to Treasury regulations, other administrative 

guidance, and court decisions. In general, none of the exempt purposes listed in section 

501(c)(3) has a precise meaning. Over time, the IRS and the courts have struggled to provide 

meaning to the terms in the context of actual organizations, and, in general, the meanings have 

expanded rather than contracted. 

Since the inception of the exemption for charitable organizations, issues have arisen as to 

the meaning of the term charitable. In general, there are two definitions of charity, the ordinary 

and popular sense and the legal sense.133 As described below, these two definitions of charity are 

significantly different and, depending on which is used, point to a narrowly defined or expansive 

charitable sector. As the law has developed, charitable has been construed in its legal sense and 

not in its ordinary sense. 

The meaning of charity -- present law

Legal versus ordinary sense

As noted above, there are two approaches to the meaning of the term charitable -- the 

legal sense and the ordinary and popular sense. The legal definition is derived from the law of 

charitable trusts and is broader than the ordinary sense of the term, which generally means the 

relief of the poor and distressed.134 Since 1959, Treasury regulations have defined the term 

“charitable” in the legal sense, as follows: 

The term “charitable” is used in section 501(c)(3) in its generally accepted 

legal sense and is, therefore, not to be construed as limited by the separate 

enumeration in section 501(c)(3) of other tax-exempt purposes which may fall 

within the broad outlines of “charity” as developed by judicial decisions. 

Such term includes: Relief of the poor and distressed or of the 

underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or 

science; erection or maintenance of public buildings, monuments, or works; 

 132 The word “charitable” generally is used to include any of the purposes described in section 

501(c)(3), e.g., religious, educational, scientific, and other.

133 The meaning of charitable for purposes of tax exemption and for purposes of the charitable 

deduction are the same. 

134 See generally, Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 5.1 (8th ed. 

2003) (noting that the ordinary sense of charitable “is usually thought to mean assistance to the poor, the 

indigent, the destitute”). 
62

lessening of the burdens of Government; and promotion of social welfare by 

organizations designed to accomplish any of the above purposes, or (i) to 

lessen neighborhood tensions; (ii) to eliminate prejudice and discrimination; 

(iii) to defend human and civil rights secured by law; or (iv) to combat 

community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.135 

This definition is broad, encompassing several ideas that would not generally be 

considered as charitable in the ordinary sense. For example, the “erection or maintenance of 

public buildings” is not grounded in helping the poor or distressed but is directed more to the 

provision of a public good. The “promotion of social welfare” indicates that an activity is 

charitable if it aids the public at large, through community benefit programs, or by advocating 

ideals such as human and civil rights, even if no particular needy person is directly benefited by 

the activity. Thus, in general, the legal definition of charitable is best understood as including 

activities that are intended to benefit the general welfare or public interest (including charitable 

activities in the ordinary sense of the term), which itself can be construed broadly or narrowly, 

and which will expand and contract over time to reflect changing notions of the public interest.136 

Public policy requirement

In addition to meeting the regulatory definition of charitable, an organization described in 

section 501(c)(3) is not organized and operated for exempt purposes if a purpose of the 

organization is against public policy or is illegal. The leading example of violation of the public 

policy doctrine is Bob Jones University v. United States.

137 Bob Jones University concerned 

whether schools with racially discriminatory admissions policies qualified for exemption under 

section 501(c)(3). The Supreme Court concluded that Congress intended that the definition of 

charity be based on the common law with the result that the purpose of a charitable organization 

 135 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(2). The regulations also make clear that the exempt purposes 

listed in section 501(c)(3) are independent bases for exemption. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(1)(iii) 

(“Since each of the [listed] purposes . . . is an exempt purpose in itself, an organization may be exempt if 

it is organized and operated exclusively for any one or more of such purposes.”). 

136 For example, the Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy, Edwin S. Cohen, stated in 1972 

in a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee: “We have tried to avoid interpreting the word 

‘charitable’ in a fixed, immutable fashion. As the courts have done in many nontax settings, we have 

tried to give it meaning that changes and expands as the needs of society change and expand.” House 

Committee on Ways and Means, 92nd Cong., 2d Sess., Legislative Activity by Certain Types of Exempt 

Organizations 5 (Comm. Print 1972). One commentator has written that “[c]harity in its popular and 

ordinary sense admits of only one class of beneficiaries, the poor or distressed, and only one type of 

activity, the relief of their condition, usually through direct assistance. In contrast, in its legal sense 

charity includes a wide variety of purposes which can be accomplished by an even wider variety of 

means. Since the catch-all category of charity -- purposes beneficial to the community -- is so broad, it 

can conceivably encompass almost any program to promote social welfare, making the exemption 

difficult to define and administer.” Tommy F. Thompson, The Unadministrability of the Federal 

Charitable Tax Exemption: Causes, Effects and Remedies, 5 Virginia Tax Rev. 1, 14 (1985). 

137 461 U.S. 574 (1983). 
63

“may not be illegal or violate established public policy.”138 The Court stated that: “Clearly an 

educational institution engaging in practices affirmatively at odds with [the] declared position of 

the whole government cannot be seen as exercising a ‘beneficial and stabilizing influence[e] in 

community life,’ and is not ‘charitable,’ within the meaning of section 170 and section 

501(c)(3).” The Court also described charitable as measured by “the common community 

conscience” and as providing a “public benefit.” The IRS has applied the public policy doctrine 

to activities such as demonstrations, boycotts, and strikes.139 

Common law principles – charitable class and community benefit

Consistent with the Court’s conclusion in Bob Jones University that “charity” is based on 

the common law, common law principles in addition to the public policy requirement inform the 

Federal tax law definition of charity. The charitable class requirement provides that an 

organization be organized to benefit a sufficiently large or indefinite class of people.140 The IRS 

has applied this rule in many cases, for example denying exemption because the class of 

beneficiaries served by an organization was so small as not to provide a public benefit.141 

The community benefit doctrine permits exemption as a charitable organization if the 

result of an activity inures to the benefit of the community, even though a private person is the 

immediate beneficiary of the activity. Through the community benefit doctrine, the IRS has 

recognized the exemption of an organization that gave financial assistance to legal interns, ruling 

that although the interns received an incidental private benefit, the purpose of the payments were 

to assist residents of a depressed community through the provision of free legal services.142 

Charity is an evolving concept, as its definition depends in part upon contemporary 

standards.143 In many cases, the IRS has changed the standard for charitable as conditions in 

society have changed. For example, until 1969 charitable hospitals were required to provide 

 138 Id.; Restatement (Second) of Trusts sec. 377 (1959). 

139 Gen. Couns. Mem. 37858 (February 16, 1979); Rev. Rul. 75-384, 1975-2 C.B. 204 (ruling 

that an organization formed to promote world peace was not charitable because its primary activity was to 

promote anti-war protest demonstrations where it urged participants to violate the law). 

140 This was a requirement for charitable trusts because under the normal trust rules, a trust may 

be organized to benefit just one or a few beneficiaries, often persons related to the grantor. For a trust to 

be charitable, the class of beneficiaries had to be sufficiently broad so as to ensure some public benefit. 

See Green v. Connally, 330 F. Supp. 1150, 1157-58 (D.D.C. 1971). 

141 See, e.g., Crellin v. Commissioner, 46 B.T.A. 1152, 1155-56 (1942); James Sprunt 

Benevolent Trust v. Commissioner, 20 B.T.A. 19, 24-5 (1930).

142 Rev. Rul. 72-559, 1972-2 C.B. 247. 

143 Restatement (Second) of Trusts sec. 374 cmt. A (1959). 
64

some patient care for low or no cost. This standard was changed to a community benefit 

standard in 1969.144

Examples

Some examples of organizations that have been recognized as charitable under the legal 

definition include organizations: providing legal services to the poor;145 providing individual 

psychological and educational evaluations for children and adolescents with learning 

disabilities;146 managing community correctional centers for the rehabilitation of prisoners;147

posting bail for individuals who were otherwise incapable of paying;148 exhibiting and selling 

artwork;149 providing rescue and emergency services to disaster victims;150 providing money 

management advice;151 providing medical and dental referral services;152 assisting in the 

operation of a mass transportation system;153 and carrying on all or a substantial part of its 

otherwise charitable activities in a foreign country.154 Some other examples of charitable 

organizations are described in Part VI of this pamphlet, including hospitals, elder care facilities, 

credit counseling organizations, low-income housing organizations, environmental organizations, 

and college sports organizations. 

 144 The requirements for hospitals to qualify as charitable are described in Part III.B. Also 

discussed in that Part are the exemption standards for elder care facilities, credit counseling organizations, 

low-income housing organizations, environmental organizations, and college sports organizations. 

145 Rev. Rul. 78-428, 1978-2 C.B. 177. 

146 Rev. Rul. 77-68, 1977-1 C.B. 142 (held to be promoting public health).

147 Rev. Rul. 70-583, 1970-2 C.B. 114. 

148 Rev. Rul. 76-21, 1976-1 C.B. 147.

149 Goldsboro Art League, Inc. v. Commissioner, 75 T.C. 337, 343-44 (1980) (noting that the 

promotion of the arts has consistently been recognized as both charitable and educational). 

150 Rev. Rul. 69-174, 1969-1 C.B. 149.

151 Rev. Rul. 69-441, 1969-2 C.B. 115. 

152 Fraternal Medical Specialist Services v. Commissioner, 49 T.C.M. (CCH) 289 (1984).

153 Rev. Rul. 71-29, 1971-1 C.B. 150.

154 Rev. Rul. 71-460, 1971-2 C.B. 231. 
65

Meaning of charitable before 1959

Treasury interpretation

Prior to adoption by Treasury of the legal definition of charitable in the 1959 regulations, 

charitable was construed in regulations in its ordinary and popular sense. The Treasury 

Regulations interpreting the Revenue Acts of 1918, 1921, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1932, 1934, 1936, 

and 1938 all construed charity in the ordinary and popular sense, providing that “[c]orporations 

organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes comprise, in general, organizations 

for the relief of the poor.”155 Three sets of regulations construed the meaning of charitable under 

the Revenue Code of 1939, and each one prescribed the ordinary and popular sense of the 

term.156

Congressional intent

Notwithstanding the established administrative construction of the term “charitable,” both 

before and after 1959, there is not clear evidence whether Congress intended that the popular and 

ordinary sense of the term or the legal sense be used. One common argument based on statutory 

construction is that Congress intended that the ordinary sense be used.157 For example, the fact 

that the exempt purposes are listed in the disjunctive, e.g., “charitable, religious, or educational,” 

indicates the ordinary usage because the “or” signals that religious and educational should have a 

separate meaning apart from charitable, which would not be the case if the legal sense of the 

term was intended. However, the Supreme Court took note of this argument in Bob Jones and 

favored another rule of statutory construction, “that a court should go beyond the literal language 

of a statute if reliance on that language would defeat the plain purpose of the statute.”158 The 

 155 See Nina J. Crimm, An Explanation of the Federal Income Tax Exemtion for Charitable 

Organizations: A Theory of Risk Compensation, 50 Florida L. Rev. 419, 429 n.30 (1998).

156 See Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 5.2 (8th ed. 2003) (citing 

Reg. 103, sec. 19.101(6)-1; Treas. Reg. 111, sec. 29.101(6)-1; Reg. 118, sec. 39.101(6)-1(b)); H.R. Rep. 

No. 1337, 83d Cong., 2d Sess. A165 (1954). There were two published prior drafts of the 1959 

regulations. In the first, charitable organizations included “generally organizations for the relief of 

poverty, distress, or other conditions of similar public concern.” Prop. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1, 21 

Fed. Reg. 460, 464 (January 21, 1956). In the second, charitable was defined “in its generally accepted 

legal sense” and included the “advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erection or 

maintenance of public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening of the burdens of government; and 

promotion of social welfare.” Prop. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1, 24 Fed. Reg. 1421, 1423 (February 

26, 1959). There is no evident explanation for the Treasury Department’s change in position in the 1959 

regulations, which are in large part the regulations that are in effect today. These regulations construed 

the 1954 Revenue Code, which in replacing the 1939 Revenue Code reordered the tax exemption for 

charitable organizations into a new Code section. However, a Ways and Means Committee report 

regarding the new section stated that “[n]o change in substance has been made . . . .” H.R. Rep. No. 1337, 

83d Cong., 2d Sess. A165 (1954). 

157 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 5.2 (8th ed. 2003).

158 Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574, 585 (1983). 
66

Court concluded that an examination of Congressional purposes “reveals unmistakable evidence 

that, underlying all relevant parts of the Code, is the intent that entitlement to tax exemption 

depends on meeting certain common law standards of charity -- namely, that an institution 

seeking tax-exempt status must serve a public purpose and not be contrary to established public 

policy.”159

Legislative history

The sponsor of the 1909 statute that exempted charitable corporations from excise tax 

stated that the exemption was intended for organizations “devoted exclusively to the relief of 

suffering, to the alleviation of our people, and to all things which commend themselves to every 

charitable and just impulse.”160 This indicates a more expansive notion of charitable than the 

ordinary sense of the term. However, legislative history pointing toward a narrow construction 

of charity may be found in the 1924 effort by a Senator specifically to provide for an expansive 

statutory definition of charitable. On the Senate floor, Ohio Senator Willis complained that the 

IRS (then the Bureau of Internal Revenue) was construing charitable narrowly to mean 

organizations that served the poor. The Senator wanted charitable to include “preventive and 

constructive service for relief, rehabilitation, health, character building and citizenship.”161 

Other Senators objected that the vague terms “health” and “character building” were potentially 

too expansive, and Senator Willis withdrew his amendment.162

The most commonly cited example of legislative history points to a broad meaning of the 

term charitable. A 1939 House Committee Report provides that the exemption is provided for 

“charitable and other purposes” and that the exemption provides “benefits resulting from the 

promotion of the general welfare.”163 This language points to a broad sense of the term 

charitable, but is not contemporaneous with enactment of the first exemption for charitable 

organizations. More recently, in 1969, the House Report on the Tax Reform Act of 1969 

described the term “charitable” as “a term that has been used in the law of trusts for hundreds of 

years,”164 the implication being that charitable should be construed in its legal sense. In general, 

commentators conclude that there is no clear indication of Congressional intent regarding the 

meaning of charitable.165 

 159 Id. at 586. 

160 44 Cong. Rec. 4150 (1909). 

161 65 Cong. Rec. 8171 (1924). 

162 65 Cong. Rec. 8171 (1924). 

163 H.R. Rep. No. 1860, 75th Cong., 3d Sess. 19 (1938). 

164 H.R. Rep. No. 91-413, pt. 1, at 43 (1969). 

165 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 5.2 (8th ed. 2003) (“There is 

little concrete evidence to support a proposition that Congress intended the application of either 

definition.”); Lars F. Gustafsson, The Definition of “Charitable” for Federal Income Tax Purposes: 
67

Other sources of meaning for charity

In general, there is historical support for the proposition that in exempting charitable 

organizations from tax, Congress merely codified principles of English law, and by doing so, 

imported the legal definition of charitable, which has its roots in charitable trust law.166 This is 

the conclusion of the Supreme Court in Bob Jones: “The form and history of the charitable 

exemption and deduction sections of the various income tax Acts reveal that Congress was 

guided by the common law of charitable trusts.” As support, the Supreme Court noted that the 

drafters of the 1894 income tax law, the first statutory exemption for charitable organizations, 

“relied heavily on English concepts of taxation; and the list of exempt organization appears to 

have been patterned upon English income tax statutes”167 and cited early opinions of the Court 

that charity is imbued with the charitable trust concepts of public benefit.168

Similar to the approach taken in the early U.S. tax statutes and in today’s Code, the often 

cited 1601 preamable to the English Statute of Charitable Uses provides not a definition of 

charity but a list of charitable purposes, as follows: 

some for relief of aged, impotent and poor people, some for maintenance of 

sick and maimed soldiers and mariners, schools of learning, free schools, and 

scholars in universities, some for repair of bridges, ports, havens, causeways, 

churches, sea-banks and highways, some for education and preferment of 

orphans, some for or towards relief, stock or maintenance for houses of 

correction, some for marriages of poor maids, some for supportation, aid and 

help of young tradesmen, handicraftsmen . . . and others for relief or 

redemption of prisoners or captives, and for aid or ease of any poor 

 

Defrocking the Old and Suggesting Some New Fundamental Assumptions, 33 Houston L. Rev. 587, 619 

(1996) (“Congress gave no indication when it passed an income tax in 1894, 1909, or 1913 of the 

appropriate definition of charitable for purposes of the exemption provisions nor when it provided for the 

deductibility of charitable contributions in 1917.”). 

166 The standard definition of charity in the context of charitable trusts was articulated in the 19th

century English case of Commissioners for Special Purposes of Income Tax v. Pemsel, which provided 

that “‘Charity’ in its legal sense comprises four principal divisions: trusts for the relief of poverty; trusts 

for the advancement of education; trusts for the advancement of religion; and trusts for other purposes 

beneficial to the community, not failing under any of the preceding heads.” Commissioners for Special 

Purposes of Income Tax v. Pemsel, 1891 A.C. 531, 583. 

167 Bob Jones, 461 U.S. at 589 (citing 26 Cong. Rec. 584-88, 6612-15 (1894)). 

168 Perin v. Carey, 24 How. 465, 501 (1861) (it “has now become an established principle of 

American law, that courts of chancery will sustain and protect . . . a gift . . . to public charitable uses, 

provided the same is consistent with local laws and public policy”); Ould v. Washington Hospital for 

Foundlings, 95 U.S. 303, 311 (1877) (“A charitable use, where neither law nor public policy forbids, may 

be applied to almost any thing that tends to promote the well-doing and well-being of social man.”). 
68

inhabitants concerning payments of fifteens, setting out of soldiers and other 

taxes.”169

The Restatement (Second) of Trusts,170 is another source for a meaning of charity, often 

relied on by courts. It provides that: “Charitable purposes include (a) the relief of poverty; (b) 

the advancement of education; (c) the advancement of religion; (d) the promotion of health; (e) 

governmental or municipal purposes; (f) other purposes the accomplishment of which is 

beneficial to the community.” The comments to the Second Restatement explain that: “A 

purpose is charitable if its accomplishment is of such social interest to the community as to 

justify permitting the property to be devoted to the purpose in perpetuity. There is no fixed 

standard to determine what purposes are of such social interest to the community; the interests of 

the community vary with time and place. . . . As to what other purposes are of such interest to the 

community as to be charitable, no definite rule can be laid down.” 

The meaning of charity and the rationale for tax exemption and charitable deductions

In general

A variety of rationales for the charitable tax exemption and tax deduction have been 

offered in legislative history, court cases, and commentary. Some of the basic rationales that 

have been offered may be summarized as follows: (1) charitable organizations serve the public 

and therefore should be supported through provision of tax benefits; (2) charitable organizations 

provide goods and services that otherwise would have to be provided by the Government and 

therefore should be supported by the Government; (3) it is difficult to measure the net income of 

charitable organizations, and therefore they should be exempt from tax; (4) charitable 

organizations promote pluralism; (5) charitable organizations are efficient providers of services 

but have inherent limits on their ability to raise capital compared to for-profit entities and 

therefore need government support in the form of tax exemption (and charitable contributions); 

and (6) exemption is afforded to those organizations that can prove their worth through sustained 

donations. 

Public service/morality

Probably the most frequently made statement regarding the reason for tax exemption and 

deduction for charitable organizations is that providing tax benefits for charity, however it is 

defined, is the right thing to do. Along these lines, one commentator argues that morality was 

 169 Lars G. Gustafsson, “Lessening the Burdens of Government”: Formulating a Test for 

Uniformity and Rational Federal Income Tax Subsidies, 45 U. Kansas L. Rev. 787, 795 & n.25 (1997) 

(quoting from 43 Eliz. Chap. 4 (Eng. 1601)). 

170 Restatement (Second) of Trusts sec. 368 (1959). 
69

one of three basic considerations when Congress first provided for tax exemption in the Tariff 

Act of 1894.171 

In framing the income tax law, certain value judgments were made by Congress 

that it was simply wrong to tax certain types of organizations. . . . In addition, it 

seemed anomalous, in the formative years of this country, to discourage the 

growth of educational, civic, charitable, or other similar organizations which not 

only relieved the burdens of government, but also helped to form the moral fiber 

of the young nation.172 

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Blackmun also suggested that the rationale for the charitable 

exemption was based in morality: 

Obviously, section 501(c)(3) is not designed to raise money. Its purpose, rather, 

is to assure the existence of truly philanthropic organizations and the continuation 

of the important public benefits they bestow.173

Performance of public or governmental functions

Perhaps the most conventional rationale offered for the charitable tax exemption and 

deduction is that Congress intended to provide support for organizations that perform functions 

and services that are public in nature and that otherwise would have to be provided by the 

government. An early Supreme Court decision provides limited support for this view, as the 

Court declared that: “Evidently the exemption is made in recognition of the benefit which the 

public derives from corporate activities of the class named, and is intended to aid them when not 

conducted for private gain.”174 A 1939 House Committee Report, quoted from above, speaks 

more directly to this rationale for exemption: 

[t]he exemption from taxation of money or property devoted to charitable and 

other purposes is based upon the theory that the Government is compensated for 

the loss of revenue by its relief from financial burdens which would otherwise 

have to be met by appropriations from other public funds, and by the benefits 

resulting from the promotion of the general welfare.175

 171 James J. McGovern, The Exemption Provisions of Subchapter F, 29 Tax Lawyer 523, 526 

(1976). McGovern argues that the other two rationales were (1) heritage (i.e., Congress was following 

established traditions) and (2) the influence of special interests. Id. at 525-27. McGovern’s analysis 

extends to all the exemption provision enacted as part of the Tariff Act of 1894; his analysis is not limited 

to charitable organizations. 

172 Id. at 526. 

173 Alexander v. “Americans United” Inc., 416 U.S. 752, 772 (1974) (dissenting). 

174 Trinidad v. Sagrada Orden de Predicadores, 263 U.S. 578 (1924). 

175 H.R. Rep. No. 1860, 75th Cong., 3d Sess. 19 (1938). 
70

Justice Harlan, in a concurring opinion in Walz, noted that a New York constitutional provision 

for tax exemption applies to organizations that perform “certain social services in the community 

that might otherwise have to be assumed by government.”176 In a separate concurring opinion, 

Justice Brennan stated that “private, nonprofit organizations contribute to the well-being of the 

community . . . and thereby bear burdens that would otherwise either have to be met by general 

taxation, or be left undone, to the detriment of the community.”177 The Court in Bob Jones stated 

that by providing for exemption, Congress intended to help organizations “that serve a useful 

public purpose or supplement or take the place of public institutions of the same kind.”178

This theory generally is evident in the regulatory definition of charity, which provides 

that an organization is charitable if it “lessens the burdens of government.”179 The other types of 

charity listed in the regulation also are consistent with the idea that a charitable organization 

conducts activities which are in some sense governmental in nature, whether it is relief of the 

poor, the erection of public buildings, or the promotion of social welfare.180 

Difficulty of measuring net income

A theory of charitable exemption advanced by scholars Boris I. Bittker and George K. 

Rahdert in the 1970s posits that organizations engaged in public service are exempt from 

taxation because there is no reasonable way of measuring net income under established 

principles developed for the taxation of for-profit entities.181 First, because traditional notions of 

gross income rest on an entity’s desire to maximize profits, such principles cannot readily be 

applied to determine the gross income of organizations that do not have a profit motive.182 It 

may be difficult, for example, to determine whether contributions to a charity should be included 

 176 397 U.S. at 696. 

177 Id. at 687. 

178 461 U.S. at 587; see also McGlotten v. Connally, 338 F. Supp. 448, 456 (D.D.C. 1972) (“the 

Government relieves itself of the burden of meeting public needs which in the absence of charitable 

activity would fall on the shoulders of the Government”). 

179 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(2). 

180 Id. 

181 Boris I. Bittker & George K. Rahdert, The Exemption of Nonprofit Organizations from 

Federal Income Taxation, 85 Yale L.J. 299, 305 (1976). Another scholar, Henry Hansmann, takes issue 

with the assertion of Bittker and Rahdert that the net income of a charitable organization could not be 

determined under ordinary principles of taxation. Hansmann notes, for example, that a large percentage 

of charities are what he terms “commercial” nonprofits, i.e., those that derive nearly all of their income 

from sales of goods or services that they produce, and that the income of such organizations could easily 

be measured under established principles. Henry Hansmann, The Rationale for Exempting Nonprofit 

Organizations from Corporate Income Taxation, 91 Yale L.J. 54, 59 (1981). 

182 Bittker & Rahdert, 85 Yale L.J. at 307. 
71

in its ordinary income or excluded from ordinary income as gifts received. Classification issues 

may also arise in determining which expenses should be deductible in computing net income, as 

business expenses generally are deductible only when incurred with a profit motive.183 Bittker 

and Rahdert assert that even if the net income of such organizations could be measured in a 

meaningful way, there is no satisfactory way to establish suitable tax rates.184 They argue, for 

instance, that the burden of a tax would fall on the organization’s ultimate beneficiaries, but “the 

burden of the tax would not reflect the ability to pay of the individual beneficiaries.”185

Promotion of pluralism

Commentators and courts often cite pluralism as a rationale for Federal tax exemption of 

charities. Author and practitioner Bruce Hopkins, for example, identifies pluralism as one of the 

philosophical underpinnings of tax exemption.186 In a 1971 opinion, the United States District 

Court for the District of Columbia cited pluralism as a significant purpose of the charitable 

deduction: 

The public policy limitation on tax benefits [for activities that are illegal or 

against public policy] applies a fortiori to the case before us involving the 

charitable deduction whose very purpose is rooted in helping institutions because 

they serve the public good. The Internal Revenue Code does not contemplate the 

granting of special Federal tax benefits to trusts or organizations, whether or not 

entitled to the special state rules relating to charitable trusts, whose organization 

or operation contravene Federal public policy. This principle cannot be applied 

without taking into account that as to private philanthropy, the promotion of a 

healthy pluralism is often viewed as a prime social benefit of general 

significance.187

 183 Id. at 309-10. 

184 Id. at 314. 

185 Id. at 315, 358. 

186 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 1.4 (8th ed. 2003); see also

Norman S. Fink, Taxation & Philanthropy -- A 1976 Perspective, 3 Journal of College & University L. 1, 

6-7 (citing volunteerism as being responsible for the creation and maintenance of such institutions as 

churches, colleges, and hospitals); Nina J. Crimm, An Explanation of the Federal Income Tax Exemption 

for Charitable Organizations: A Theory of Risk Compensation, 50 Florida. L. Rev. 419, 430 and n. 31 

(citing the promotion of pluralism as an often-stated rationale of tax exemption for charitable 

organizations). 

187 Green v. Connally, 330 F. Supp. 1150, 1162 (D.D. C.), aff’d sub nom., Colt v. Green, 404 

U.S. 997 (1971). 
72

One commentator argues that, beyond the specific and direct benefits that charities 

provide, charities also deliver certain “metabenefits,” including the promotion of pluralism and 

altruism, which are inherently good and thus deserve subsidization through tax exemption.188

Inability to raise capital

In a series of articles published in the early 1980s, Law Professor and Economist Henry 

Hansmann articulated an economic theory in an attempt to explain why income tax exemption is 

granted to certain categories of nonprofit organizations.189 Hansmann first notes that nonprofit 

corporations are subject to “distribution constraints” imposed by state corporation law, i.e., 

prohibitions against the distribution of net earnings to individuals.190 He then describes certain 

“contract failures” that occur when consumers are unable to determine the relative quality of 

offered products or services or whether a promised service will in fact be delivered. Under such 

circumstances, consumers may find nonprofit firms more trustworthy than for-profit firms 

because of the nondistribution constraint applicable to nonprofits. In other words, a consumer 

may believe that a nonprofit firm is more likely to provide promised services, particularly where 

such services are to be delivered to a third party and the consumer is unable to monitor such 

delivery. A for-profit firm, on the other hand, might be less likely to deliver high-quality 

services to the third party, instead bending to pressures to provide a return to its owners. As 

such, where contract failure occurs, a nonprofit firm may be able to serve consumers more 

efficiently than a for-profit firm that provides comparable products or services. Hansmann 

asserts that tax exemption is an appropriate means of encouraging the development of nonprofit 

organizations in industries where, as a result of contract failure, they have an efficiency 

advantage. 

Hansmann further argues that, because of the nondistribution constraint, nonprofits have 

particular difficulty in raising capital; because they cannot issue ownership shares to individuals, 

they lack needed access to equity capital and are thus unable to accumulate earnings required to 

reach an optimal level of efficiency. Hansmann concludes that the exemption from income tax is 

a subsidy to compensate nonprofit organizations with an efficiency advantage for this lack of 

access to equity capital.191

 188 Rob Atkinson, Altruism in Nonprofit Organizations, 31 B.C. L. Rev. 501, 605 (1990). 

189 Henry Hansmann, The Role of Nonprofit Enterprise, 89 Yale L.J. 835 (1980); Henry 

Hansmann, The Rationale for Exempting Nonprofit Organizations from Corporate Income Taxation, 91 

Yale L.J. 54 (1981). 

190 Henry Hansmann, The Rationale for Exempting Nonprofit Organizations from Corporate 

Income Taxation, 91 Yale L.J. 54, 56 (1981). 

191 Id. at 70. Hansmann concedes that his theory may not justify the exemption from tax afforded 

certain types of exempt organizations, such as certain nonprofit hospitals and nursing homes, which 

operate in a manner similar to for-profit entities. Hansmann argues, however, that this incongruity 

between his theory and the categories of exemption then allowed under the tax laws “may simply be a 

problem of an uncritical overextension of the exemption.” 
73

Ability to attract donations

Scholars Mark Hall and John Colombo describe a “donative theory” that they contend 

explains why certain organizations, including charitable organizations, are afforded tax 

exemption.192 Under this theory, only those organizations capable of attracting substantial 

support from the public should be entitled to exemption, i.e., the willingness of individuals to 

donate to an organization demonstrates the organization’s worthiness of support. However, 

because of “free rider” problems, such organizations can rarely optimally meet public needs on 

donations alone.193 The tax exemption, they contend, is thus intended to provide a subsidy to 

charitable organizations in an effort to make up for such shortfalls.194 

Hall and Colombo assert that neither the particular market defect that leads to the 

donation nor the motivation for the donation is relevant to whether the recipient of the donation 

qualifies for a subsidy (i.e., for exemption). In this respect, the donative theory departs from 

Hansmann’s contract failure theory and other theories that focus on factors such as altruism as a 

reason for donations. 

Educational purposes

Tax exemption for educational organizations was provided in the Tariff Act of 1894, and 

has been replicated in each subsequent income tax act. Educational organizations have been 

eligible to receive tax deductible contributions since 1917. Like the term charitable, the term 

educational has no precise meaning. The Treasury regulations set forth the basic definition as 

relating to the “instruction or training of the individual for the purpose of improving or 

developing his capabilities.”195 This definition is consistent with provision of exemption for 

organizations that fit within the common conception of an educational organization, such as 

schools, colleges, and universities. In general, such organizations are educational because they 

provide instruction to the individual, in an institutional setting, have a formal curriculum, and 

rely on faculty to teach.196 Yet educational organizations are not limited to such traditional 

forms. The law does not require a faculty, a formal setting such as a classroom, a curriculum, or 

a student body. Such factors may demonstrate an educational purpose, but are not required. 

 192 Mark A. Hall & John D. Colombo, The Donative Theory of the Charitable Tax Exemption, 52 

Ohio St. L.J. 1379 (1991). 

193 Id. at 1398. 

194 Id. at 1383-84. 

195 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(3). 

196 Such classically defined educational organizations have given rise to exemption for related 

organizations, such as university bookstores (Rev. Rul. 69-538, 1969-2 C.B. 116), student publications 

operating under faculty supervision (Rev. Rul. 63-235, 1963-2 C.B. 210), student housing corporations 

(Rev. Rul. 76-336, 1976-2 C.B. 143), scholarship organizations (Rev. Rul. 63-220, 1963-2 C.B. 208), and 

others. Frances R. Hill & Douglas M. Mancino, Taxation of Exempt Organizations, sec. 3.03[2] (2004). 
74

Thus, the “instruction or training of the individual” standard may be met by an organization that 

provides vocational training to improve employment prospects,197 an organization that operates 

community correctional centers for the rehabilitation of prisoners,198 an organization that 

provides dancing classes199 or marriage counseling.200 The list of organizations that are 

educational under this standard is long and varied.201 

The Treasury regulations also provide that educational means the “instruction of the 

public on subjects useful to the individual and beneficial to the community.”202 Such a standard 

involves difficult issues of judgment about what is “useful” to an individual or “beneficial to the 

community.” In general, organizations recognized as educational under this category have been 

described as fitting a number of broad categories: (1) provision of certain personal services 

deemed beneficial to the general public; (2) providing instruction in the form of counseling; (3) 

instruction of the public in the field of civic betterment; (4) instructing the public through 

conduct of study and research; and (5) the publication of printed material.203 One commentator 

has concluded that an organization may qualify as educational merely through the dissemination 

of information.204 The IRS and the courts have permitted a broad array of organizations to be 

considered educational under this standard. One example is a private law library, which through 

the collection of written materials and provision of access to such materials for members serves 

an educational purpose.205 Another is an organization educating the public regarding the quality 

of radio and television programs.206 Perhaps less conventional is an organization that promotes 

student and cultural exchanges,207 an organization developing and disseminating safety standards 

 197 Rev. Rul. 73-128, 1973-1 C.B. 222. 

198 Rev. Rul. 70-583, 1970-2 C.B. 114. 

199 Rev. Rul. 65-270, 1965-2 C.B. 160. 

200 Rev. Rul. 70-640, 1970-2 C.B. 117. 

201 See, e.g., Rev. Rul. 70-584, 1970 C.B. 114 (recruiting organization); Rev. Rul. 70-534, 1970-

2 C.B. 113 (study tour operator); Rev. Rul. 76-336, 1976-2 C.B. 143 (nonprofit student housing 

corporation); Kentucky Bar Foundation, Inc. v. Commissioner, 78 T.C. 921 (1982) (continuing legal 

education programs of bar association). 

202 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(3). 

203 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 7.5 (8th ed. 2003). 

204 Tommy F. Thompson, The Unadministrability of the Federal Charitable Tax Exemption: 

Causes, Effects and Remedies, 5 Virginia Tax Rev. 1, 9 (1985). 

205 United States v. Proprietors of Social Law Library, 102 F.2d 481 (1st Cir. 1939); Rev. Rul. 

75-196, 1975-1 C.B. 155. 

206 Rev. Rul. 64-192, 1964-2 C.B. 136. 

207 Rev. Rul. 80-286, 1980-2 C.B. 179. 
75

for small boats,208 a county fair,209 an organization encouraging understanding and tolerance of 

homosexuals,210 and an organization that studies and makes available to the public methods for 

divining the future.211 

Treasury regulations give examples of organizations that meet either the “instruction of 

the individual” or “instruction of the public” standard, which although not set forth as a legal 

standard, provide a basis for analogous organizations to qualify as educational. Regulatory 

examples include: (1) an organization whose activities consist of presenting public discussion 

groups, forums, panels, lectures, or other similar programs, including programs on radio or 

television; (2) an organization which presents a course of instruction by means of 

correspondence or through the utilization of television or radio; and (3) museums, zoos, 

planetariums, symphony orchestras, and other similar organizations.212 A “similar organization” 

has included repertory theater.213 Some have questioned the presumption in the regulations that 

a symphony orchestra or similar organizations are educational.214

As the variety of organizations recognized as educational shows, the primary issue in 

determining whether something is educational is not the content of the information but the 

method the organization uses to convey information, irrespective of content. In general, the 

analytical exercise is to determine whether an organization’s presentation of information is 

objective and balanced, or whether the organization instead is an advocate or a mouthpiece for 

propaganda. This is a fine and difficult line to draw, and one with constitutional implications. 

Because “educational” is in no way limited in the statute, and is “inherently general,”215 in 

administering the term, the IRS has to be careful not to deny tax exemption as an educational 

organization because of the content of the organization’s speech. Indeed, part of the Treasury 

 208 Rev. Rul. 68-164, 1968-1 C.B. 252. 

209 Rev. Rul. 67-216, 1967-2 C.B. 180. 

210 Rev. Rul. 78-305, 1978-2 C.B. 172. 

211 Rev. Rul. 77-258, 1977-2 C.B. 195. 

212 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(3). Another regulatory example, alluded to above, is an 

organization, such as a primary or secondary school, a college, or a professional or trade school, which 

has a regularly scheduled curriculum, a regular faculty, and a regularly enrolled body of students in 

attendance at a place where the educational activities are regularly carried on. 

213 Rev. Rul. 64-175, 1964-1 C.B. 185. 

214 Henry Hansmann, The Rational for Exempting Nonprofit Organizations from Corporate 

Income Taxation, 91 Yale L.J. 54, 58 n.16 (1981-82) (“rather than deny exemption to such a large and 

growing class of nonprofits, the Service chose to engage in another act of imaginative reinterpretation, 

ruling that the performing arts come within the category of ‘educational’ institutions covered by sec. 

501(c)(3)”). 

215 National Alliance v. United States, 710 F.2d 868, 873 (D.C. Cir. 1983). 
76

regulations defining educational were held unconstitutionally vague on the ground that the 

regulation left too much discretion over the content of speech to IRS determinations.216 As an 

alternative, the IRS developed a four part test, the “methodology test,” which it now uses to 

determine whether the activities of an organization that advocates a particular viewpoint or 

position are educational.217 

Under the methodology test, the IRS views the presence of any of the following four 

factors as evidence that an organization’s method is not educational: 

• The presentation of viewpoints or positions unsupported by facts is a significant 

portion of the organization's communications.

• The facts that purport to support the viewpoints or positions are distorted.

• The organization’s presentations make substantial use of inflammatory and 

disparaging terms and express conclusions more on the basis of strong emotional 

feelings than of objective evaluations.

• The approach used in the organization's presentations is not aimed at developing an 

understanding on the part of the intended audience or readership because it does not 

consider their background or training in the subject matter.

In applying the methodology test, the IRS states that failure to meet the test shows that an 

organizations method is not educational, thus indicating that, as a practical matter, whether an 

organization is “educational” generally is based on procedure and not on substance. 

There are limitations on the meaning of educational, as the IRS has denied exemption to a 

number of organizations, for example: an organization that had a purpose to advocate the 

abolition of taxes on industry and replacement with a single tax upon land;218 an organization 

with the stated purpose of arousing in white Americans of European ancestry “an understanding 

of and a pride in their racial and cultural heritage and an awareness of the present dangers to that 

 216 The suspect regulations provide that “[a]n organization may be educational even though it 

advocates a particular position or viewpoint so long as it presents a sufficiently full and fair exposition of 

the pertinent facts as to permit an individual or the public to form an independent opinion or conclusion. 

On the other hand, an organization is not educational if its principal function is the mere presentation of 

unsupported opinion.” Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(3)(i). The “full and fair exposition” test was 

held unconstitutional in Big Mama Rag, Inc. v. United States, 631 F.2d 1030 (D.C. Cir. 1980). 

217 Regarding the methodology test, the IRS states that it is the long-standing position of the IRS 

“that the method used by an organization in advocating its position, rather than the position itself, is the 

standard for determining whether an organization has educational purposes.” Rev. Proc. 86-43, 1986-2 

C.B. 729. 

218 Leubuscher v. Commissioner, 54 F.2d 998 (2d Cir. 1932).
77

heritage;”219 and an organization that advocated voluntary emigration or repatriation of 

foreigners and minorities.220 

An issue in the educational context is the conduct of commercial activities by educational 

organizations. The operation of a restaurant, bookshop, publication, or retail shop are all 

commercial activities regularly conducted by for profit entities, and also frequently undertaken 

by tax exempt educational organizations.221 The IRS has ruled that each such activity may be 

consistent with exempt status.222 The issue is whether the commercial activity is a substantial 

nonexempt purpose of the organization, which generally is unlikely in the context of a university 

or museum. However, organizations that engage in publishing as a primary activity will not 

qualify for exemption as an educational organization if the publishing activity takes on too much 

of a “commercial hue.” This determination is especially difficult because publishing clearly is a 

commercial activity yet also involves the dissemination of the information to the public.223 The 

IRS has successfully denied exemption to a number of publishing organizations (many of them 

religious organizations with a primary activity of publishing) on commerciality grounds. If an 

activity like publishing or operation of a bookshop does not jeopardize exemption (because it is 

not a substantial nonexempt purpose of the organization), it in many cases will not result in 

unrelated business income tax, either because the activity is considered related to exempt 

educational purposes or because it is for the convenience of the organization’s members or 

students.224 

 219 National Alliance v. United States, 710 F.2d 868 (D.C. Cir. 1983).

220 Nationalist Movement v. Commissioner, 102 T.C. 558 (1994), aff’d per curiam, 37 F.3d 216 

(5th Cir. 1994), cert. denied 513 U.S. 1192 (1995).

221 This may also be an issue with respect to scientific research and technology transfers by 

educational organizations. Treasury regulations provide that an organization that carries on research 

which is not in furtherance of an exempt purpose described in section 501(c)(3) will not preclude such 

organization from meeting the requirements of section 501(c)(3) so long as the organization meets the 

organizational test and is not operated for the primary purpose of carrying on such research. See Treas. 

Reg. sec. 1.513-2(a)(5), with respect to research that constitutes an unrelated trade or business, and 

section 512(b)(7), (8), and (9), with respect to income derived from research which is excludable from the 

tax on unrelated business income. 

222 See, e.g., Rev. Rul. 67-217, 1967-2 C.B. 181 (restaurant); Rev. Rul. 68-538, 1968-2 C.B. 116 

(university store); Rev. Rul. 62-234, 1963-2 C.B. 210 (journal).

223 The IRS has ruled that a publication distributed below cost may be educational in nature if (1) 

the content of the publication is educational, (2) the preparation of material follows methods generally 

accepted as “educational” in character, (3) the distribution of the materials is necessary or valuable in 

achieving the organization’s educational and scientific purposes, and (4) the manner in which the 

distribution is accomplished is distinguishable from ordinary commercial publishing practices. Rev. Rul. 

67-4, 1967-1 C.B. 121. 

224 Sec. 513(a)(2). 
78

Religious purposes

The Federal tax exemption for organizations operated for religious purposes was, along 

with charitable and educational purposes, provided for originally in the Tariff Act of 1894, and 

religious organizations were designated as eligible for charitable contributions in 1917. 

However, unlike charitable and educational organizations, there is no definition of “religious” 

provided by regulation. The manifest reason is the constitutional law framework that limits 

Federal involvement in religion: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 

religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”225 General Constitutional concerns may 

explain one basis for tax exemption of religious organizations, as taxing religious organizations 

would more directly involve the Federal Government in their affairs than does the provision of 

exemption.226

The near impossibility of defining “religious” or “religion” for Federal tax law purposes 

means that in general, it is very difficult to determine whether an organization is organized and 

operated for religious purposes. The IRS has developed a multi-factor list of characteristics that 

inform whether an organization may be considered a church (which is a kind of religious 

organization),227 and the IRS is careful to point out that this list is not comprehensive and that in 

each case, the facts and circumstances will be considered. Courts have in various contexts 

provided general descriptions of the term religious belief or religion to mean, for example, 

“belief in a relation to God involving duties superior to those arising from any human relation”228

or a “belief that is sincere and meaningful [and] occupies a place in the life of its possessor 

parallel to that filled by the orthodox belief in God.”229 In the context of tax exemption, it is 

 225 U.S. Constitution, 1st Amendment. 

226 See Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York, 397 U.S. 664, 674-76 (1970) 

(considering the constitutionality of a New York State law exempting religious organizations from 

property tax, the Supreme Court noted that “[e]limination of exemption would tend to expand the 

involvement of government by giving rise to tax valuation of church property, tax liens, tax foreclosures, 

and the direct confrontations and conflicts that follow in the train of those legal processes. Granting tax 

exemptions to churches necessarily operates to afford an indirect economic benefit and also gives rise to 

some, but yet a lesser, involvement than taxing them. . . . The exemption creates only a minimal and 

remote involvement between church and state and far less than taxation of churches.”). 

227 There are 15 factors on the list, only some of which generally need be met. Some of the 

factors include a recognized creed and form of worship, a definite and distinct ecclesiastical government, 

a formal code of doctrine and discipline, a literature of its own, established places of worship, regular 

congregations, regular religious services. Treasury Regulations describe the term “church” for purposes 

of determining the exemption from the unrelated business income tax for the taxable years of churches 

and conventions and associations of churches beginning before January 1, 1970. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.511-

2(a)(3)(ii). 

228 United States v. Macintosh, 283 U.S. 605, 633 (1931). 

229 Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. 333, 344 (1970) (Harlan, J. concurring) (quoting U.S. v. 

Seeger, 380 U.S. 163, 165-66 (1965)). 
79

instructive that in many cases in which a religious organization’s claim to exempt status is 

questioned, the issue of whether the organization serves religious purposes often is not addressed 

because exempt status may be denied on other grounds, for example, private benefit or private 

inurement,230 commerciality,231 or violation of the political activities prohibition.232 

The Constitutional concerns regarding Federal involvement in religious organizations 

extend to the application of regulatory requirements. For example, certain religious 

organizations are exempted from the requirement to apply for tax exempt status,233 from annual 

information return requirements,234 and special audit procedures apply to churches.235 As a 

result, although religious organizations, particularly churches, constitute a significant part of the 

charitable sector, information about the number, net worth, and assets of religious organizations 

is scarce. In addition, the special treatment of religious organizations has been a source of tax 

evasion, as individuals form organizations claiming church status and shelter personal income 

from tax.236 

Scientific purposes

Scientific purposes were the first addition to the original three exempt charitable purposes 

and were added in 1913. Charitable contributions to scientific organizations were made 

deductible in 1917. A tax exempt scientific purpose hinges on the performance of basic or 

 230 Saint Germain Foundation v. Commissioner, 26 T.C. 648 (1956); Founding Church of 

Scientology v. United States, 412 F.2d 1197 (Ct. Cl. 1969). 

231 The denial of exemption on commerciality grounds has occurred in several cases of religious 

organizations engaging in publishing activities. See, e.g., Scripture Press Foundation v. United States, 

285 F.2d 800 (Ct. Cl. 1961); Fides Publishers Association v. United States, 263 F. Supp. 924 (N.D. Ind. 

1967); Incorporated Trustees of Gospel Worker Society v. United States, 510 F. Supp. 374 (D.D.C.), 

aff’d, 672 F.2d 894 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 944 (1981). 

232 Branch Ministries, Inc. v. Rossotti, 40 F. Supp. 2d 15 (D.D.C. 1999); Christian Echoes 

National Ministry, Inc. v. United States, 470 F.2d 849 (10th Cir. 1972). 

233 Sec. 508(c)(1)(A) (churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of 

churches do not have to file an exemption application). Such organizations may nonetheless choose to 

file for a determination of tax-exempt status in order to provide donors certainty that contributions to such 

organizations are deductible as charitable contributions. 

234 Sec. 6033(a)(2)(A) (churches, their integrated auxiliaries, and conventions or associations of 

churches do not have to file an annual information return). 

235 Sec. 7611. 

236 See, e.g., Miedaner v. Commissioner, 81 T.C. 272, 282 (1983) (“our tolerance for taxpayers 

who establish churches solely for tax avoidance purposes is reaching a breaking point. Not only do these 

taxpayers use the pretext of a church to avoid paying their fair share of taxes, even when their brazen 

schemes are uncovered many of them resort to the courts in a shameless attempt to vindicate 

themselves.”). 
80

fundamental research in the public interest.237 Scientific research that is “applied” or “practical” 

may be subject to the unrelated business income tax, but generally is not inconsistent with 

exempt purposes.238 There is no precise definition of scientific research, and, in general, courts 

and the IRS have determined whether an organization is engaged in scientific research on a caseby-case basis. One court described scientific research as follows: “[w]hile projects may vary in 

terms of degree of sophistication, if professional skill is involved in the design and supervision of 

a project intended to solve a problem through a search for a demonstrable truth, the project 

would appear to be scientific research.”239

Scientific research does not include activities of a type ordinarily carried on as incidental 

to commercial or industrial operations, as, for example, the ordinary testing or inspection of 

materials or products or the designing or construction of equipment or buildings.240 One court 

has described such activity as “generally repetitive work done by scientifically unsophisticated 

employees for the purpose of determining whether the time tested met certain specifications, as 

distinguished from testing done to validate a scientific hypothesis.”241 The IRS has ruled that 

organizations that tested pharmaceuticals for commercial companies,242 and that inspected, 

tested, and certified shipping containers pursuant to contracts with container manufacturers243

were impermissibly involved in commercial activities. 

Scientific research also must be in the public interest. Under Treasury regulations, 

scientific research will be regarded as carried on in the public interest: (1) if the results of such 

research (including any patents, copyrights, processes, or formulae resulting from such research) 

are made available to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis; (2) if such research is performed 

for the United States, or any of its agencies or instrumentalities, or for a State or political 

subdivision thereof; or (3) if such research is directed toward benefiting the public.244 The 

regulations provide examples of scientific research that is considered as directed toward 

benefiting the public, including scientific research carried on for the purpose of: (1) aiding in the 

scientific education of college or university students; (2) obtaining scientific information, which 

is published in a treatise, thesis, trade publication, or in any other form that is available to the 

interested public; (3) discovering a cure for a disease; or (4) aiding a community or geographical 

 237 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(5)(i). 

238 Id.; sec. 512(b)(9). 

239 Midwest Research Institute v. United States, 554 F. Supp. 1379, 1386 (W.D. Mo. 1983). 

240 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(5)(ii). 

241 Midwest Research Institute, 554 F. Supp. at 1386. 

242 Rev. Rul. 68-373, 1968-2 C.B. 206. 

243 Rev. Rul. 78-426, 1978-2 C.B. 175. 

244 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(5)(iii). 
81

area by attracting new industry to the community or area or by encouraging the development of, 

or retention of, an industry in the community or area. Scientific research is regarded as carried 

on in the public interest even though such research is performed pursuant to a contract or 

agreement under which the sponsor or sponsors of the research have the right to obtain 

ownership or control of any patents, copyrights, processes, or formulae resulting from such 

research.245 

An organization is not regarded as organized and operated for the purpose of carrying on 

scientific research in the public interest if: (1) such organization will perform research only for 

persons which are (directly or indirectly) its creators and which are not described in section 

501(c)(3), or (2) such organization retains (directly or indirectly) the ownership or control of 

more than an insubstantial portion of the patents, copyrights, processes, or formulae resulting 

from its research and does not make such patents, copyrights, processes, or formulae available to 

the public.246 

Other exempt purposes

The prevention of cruelty to children or animals became an exempt purpose in 1918; 

literary purposes were added in 1921, public safety organizations247 were added in 1954, and 

amateur sports organizations in 1976. Charitable contributions to all organizations described in 

section 501(c)(3) except for public safety organizations may be deductible. 

 245 Id. 

246 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(5)(iv). 

247 The term “testing for public safety” includes the testing of consumer products, such as 

electrical products, to determine whether they are safe for use by the general public. Treas. Reg. sec. 

1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(4). 
82

D. Public Charity or Private Foundation 

Present law – in general

Definition

Once an organization qualifies for tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3), the 

organization must be classified as either a public charity or a private foundation.248 An 

organization may qualify as a public charity in several ways.249 For example: 

• It may be a specified type of organization, such as a church, educational institution, 

hospital and certain other medical organizations, certain organizations providing 

assistance to colleges and universities, or a governmental unit.250 

• It may qualify as a publicly supported public charity if at least one-third of its total 

support is from governmental units or the general public,251 or, failing this mechanical 

test, if it passes a “facts and circumstances” test.252 In general, this includes publicly 

or governmentally supported museums of history, art, or science, libraries, 

community centers to promote the arts, organizations providing facilities for the 

support of an opera, symphony orchestra, ballet, or to the general public, and 

organizations such as the American Red Cross.253

• It may qualify as a publicly supported public charity based on support received 

through the operation of trades or businesses that are related to such organizations’ 

exempt purposes, i.e., if it normally receives more than one-third of its support from a 

combination of (1) gifts, grants, contributions, or membership fees and (2) certain 

gross receipts from admissions, sales of merchandise, performance of services, and 

 248 Sec. 509(a). Private foundations are either private operating foundations or private nonoperating foundations. In general, private operating foundations operate their own charitable programs in 

contrast to private non-operating foundations, which generally are grant-making organizations. Most 

private foundations are non-operating foundations. Operating foundations are not subject to the payout 

requirements of private foundations and are not considered a private foundation for purposes of the 

charitable contribution deduction rules. 

249 The Code does not expressly define the term “public charity,” but rather provides exceptions 

to those entities that are treated as private foundations. 

250 Sec. 509(a)(1) (referring to sections 170(b)(1)(A)(i) through (iv) for a description of these 

organizations). 

251 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.170A-9(e)(2). 

252 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.170A-9(e)(3). 

253 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.170A-9(e)(1)(ii). 
83

furnishing of facilities in connection with activities that are related to the 

organization’s exempt purposes.254

• It may qualify as a “supporting organization” by providing support to another section 

501(c)(3) entity that is not a private foundation.255 

• It may qualify by being organized and operated exclusively for testing for public 

safety.256 

An organization that does not fit within any of the above categories is a private foundation. In 

general, private foundations generally are funded from a limited number of sources (e.g., an 

individual, a family, or a corporation). 

Substantive rules

Unlike public charities, private foundations are subject to tax on their net investment 

income at a rate of 2 percent (1 percent in some cases).257 Private foundations also are subject to 

more restrictions on their activities than are public charities. For example, private foundations 

are required to make a minimum amount of charitable distributions each year,258 are limited in 

the extent to which they may control a business,259 may not make speculative investments,260 and 

may not make certain expenditures (including expenditures for noncharitable purposes, lobbying, 

political activities, grants to individuals without prior IRS approval, grants to organizations other 

than public charities and certain foundations unless special procedures are followed).261 

Violations result in excise taxes on the foundation and, in the case of speculative investments and 

taxable expenditures, on the management of the foundation. 

Although there are rules that regulate transactions between a public charity or a private 

foundation and a respective insider of the organization, the private foundation “self-dealing” 

 254 Sec. 509(a)(2)(A). In addition, the organization must not normally receive more than onethird of its public support in each taxable year from the sum of (1) gross investment income and (2) the 

excess of unrelated business taxable income as determined under section 512 over the amount of 

unrelated business income tax imposed by section 511. Sec. 509(a)(2)(B). 

255 Sec. 509(a)(3). Supporting organizations are described in greater detail below. 

256 Sec. 509(a)(4). 

257 Sec. 4940. 

258 Sec. 4942. 

259 Sec. 4943. 

260 Sec. 4944. 

261 Sec. 4945. 
84

regime262 is much more restrictive than the public charity “intermediate sanctions” regime.263 

The self-dealing regime generally prohibits transactions between a foundation and an insider of 

the foundation, whereas the intermediate sanctions regime permits public charities to enter into 

insider transactions so long as no excess benefit is provided to the insider.264 If the self-dealing 

or intermediate sanctions rules are violated, the resulting excise taxes on the insider generally are 

significantly more punitive with respect to transactions with private foundations than with public 

charities.265

Contributions to private foundations generally do not receive as favorable treatment as do 

contributions to public charities for purposes of the charitable contribution deduction. 

Contributions to a public charity generally are deductible up to 50 percent of the donor’s 

adjusted gross income (30 percent for capital gain property), whereas contributions to most 

private foundations generally are deductible up to 30 percent of the donor’s adjusted gross 

income (20 percent for capital gain property).266 In addition, gifts of capital gain property to a 

public charity generally are deductible at the property’s fair market value,267 whereas gifts of 

capital gain property (other than publicly traded stock) to most private foundations are deductible 

at the taxpayer’s basis (cost) in the property.268

Public charities and private foundations both are subject to the annual requirement to file 

an information return with the IRS.269 Public charities generally file the Form 990;270 private 

foundations file the Form 990-PF. Small charitable organizations (e.g., organizations with gross 

 262 Sec. 4941. 

263 Sec. 4958. 

264 The two regimes take a similar approach with respect to the payment of compensation to an 

organization insider, i.e., the payment of compensation is permitted so long as the amount paid is 

reasonable and not excessive. 

265 The self-dealing tax is imposed on the entire amount involved in the transaction (except for 

the payment of compensation, with respect to which the tax is imposed on the excess compensation), 

whereas the intermediate sanctions tax is imposed on the excess benefit provided. 

266 Sec. 170(b)(1). 

267 Sec. 170(e)(1). However, contributions of tangible personal property not for an exempt 

purpose of the donee organization are deductible at the taxpayer’s basis in the property. Sec. 

170(e)(1)(B)(i). A special rule determines the aggregate deduction for contributions of certain intellectual 

property. Secs. 170(e)(1)(B)(iii) and 170(m). 

268 Sec. 170(e)(1)(B)(ii) and 170(e)(5). 

269 Sec. 6033. 

270 A short form, the Form 990-EZ, may be filed by certain small organizations. 
85

receipts normally under $25,000 per year), churches, and certain other groups are exempt from 

the filing requirements. 

Legislative history and background for the 1969 public charity-private foundation 

distinction

In general

The Tax Reform Act of 1969 defined a private foundation in the Code for the first time 

and set forth the basis for today’s law regulating their conduct. Prior to 1969, incremental 

changes distinguished private foundations from other charitable organizations. 

Legislation before 1969

The original 1894 tax-exemption for charitable organizations did not distinguish between 

public charities and private foundations. All charitable organizations generally were treated the 

same until the Revenue Act of 1943 when Congress, without explanation in legislative history, 

provided that certain exempt organizations were required to file annual information returns.271 

Exempt from the filing requirement were religious organizations, schools, certain fraternal 

organizations, certain government entities, and publicly supported charitable organizations. 

The Revenue Act of 1950 cemented the preference for publicly supported and certain 

other charitable organizations over organizations that generally were referred to as private 

foundations.272 As described in Part II.E of this pamphlet, in 1950 Congress examined the 

conduct of charitable organizations, resulting in the introduction of the unrelated business 

income tax. As part of its review, Congress also became aware of abusive transactions between 

private foundations and insiders of the foundation. Substantial contributors, or other insiders, 

were known to engage in property rental or purchase transactions, loans, and other transactions 

that were not necessary to the foundation’s charitable purposes and which inappropriately 

benefited the insider. 

In response, the House of Representatives proposed a prohibition on self-dealing 

transactions between foundations and foundation insiders, as well as a tax on the accumulated 

investment income of a foundation that was not paid out within two and a half months of the end 

of a the foundation’s taxable year. However, the Senate took a different approach and adopted 

an arm’s length dealing standard for such self-dealing transactions, and a reporting requirement 

for income accumulations. 

The 1950 Act followed the Senate approach, and added loss of exemption as a possible 

penalty for engaging in self-dealing transactions that were not at arm’s length, as well as for 

unreasonable income accumulations, use of income to a “substantial” degree for non exempt 

purposes, or investment of income in a manner that jeopardizes the achievement of exempt 

 271 Pub. L. No. 78-235, sec. 117(a) (1943). 

272 Pub. L. No. 81-814, sec. 331 (1950).
86

purposes.273 Under the 1950 Act, several charitable organizations were exempt from the new 

provisions, including religious organizations, schools, medical organizations (including 

hospitals), government-supported organizations, and publicly supported organizations.274

On the charitable contribution side, the public charity-private foundation distinction 

began with the adoption of the Revenue Code of 1954. Then, as now, charitable contributions 

generally were deductible up to a stated percentage of the donor’s adjusted gross income. Before 

1954, the percentage was the same (20 percent at the time) for all charitable organizations. In 

drafting the 1954 Code, however, Congress increased the percentage limitation to 30 percent, but 

the increase was available only for contributions to religious, educational, or certain hospital 

organizations.275 Legislative history indicates that the increase was “designed to aid these 

institutions in obtaining the additional funds they need, in view of their rising costs and the 

relatively low rate of return they are receiving on endowment funds.”276 Although other 

charitable organizations presumably would have benefited from the increased percentage 

limitation, only these were chosen by Congress. 

This limited expansion of the percentage limitation marked Congress’s continuing 

preference for certain types of charitable organizations. Congress expanded the preference in the 

Revenue Act of 1964, by extending the 30 percent of adjusted gross income limitation to 

organizations that were publicly or governmentally supported. The legislative history to the 

1964 Act specifies that contributions to private foundations were not entitled to the 30 percent 

limit because private foundations generally were not active charitable organizations and often 

used funds for investment purposes. The purpose of the increased percentage limitation was to 

encourage gifts to organizations that would spend the money immediately.277

 273 The provision provided for a loss of tax-exempt status for at least one year (and, in some 

cases, loss of eligibility to receive tax-deductible contributions) if the foundation engaged in certain 

“prohibited transactions” with related persons other than on an arm’s-length basis. The prior-law 

sanctions applied if a foundation engaged in the following with certain insiders: (1) lending of any part of 

its income or corpus, without the receipt of adequate security and a reasonable rate of interest; (2) 

payment of any compensation, in excess of a reasonable allowance for salaries or other compensation for 

personal services actually rendered; (3) making any part of its services available on a preferential basis; 

(4) making any substantial purchase of securities or any other property, for more than adequate 

consideration in money or money’s worth; (5) sales of any substantial part of its securities or other 

property, for less than an adequate consideration in money or money’s worth; or (6) engaging in any other 

transaction which results in a substantial diversion of its income or corpus to the creator of the 

organization (if a trust). Pub. L. No. 81-814, sec. 331. 

274 Id. 

275 These three types of charitable organization generally are considered under present law to 

qualify as a public charity. 

276 H. R. Rep. No. 1337, 83rd Cong., 2d Sess. 25 (1954). 

277 See H. R. Rep. No. 749, 88th Cong. 1st Sess. 53 (1964) (noting that private foundations 

“frequently do not make contributions to the operating philanthropic organizations for extended periods 
87

Congressional investigations before 1969

Concerns about the uses and abuses of private foundations was an ongoing theme in the 

years leading up to the Tax Reform Act of 1969. In 1952, the House created a Select Committee 

to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and Comparable Organizations to investigate whether 

foundations were being used for “un-American and subversive” activities. The “Cox 

Committee”278 reported that although there were confirmed cases of communist infiltration into 

foundations and that foundations were vulnerable to infiltration or misuse, “on balance, the 

record of the foundations was good.” The Committee largely praised the important role of 

foundations in society in the fields of medicine, public health, international relations, public 

administration, the humanities, race relations, the arts, adult education, recreation, and 

economics. However, the Committee recommended the disclosure by foundations to the Bureau 

of Internal Revenue of additional information, including disclosure of most contributors, 

administrative expenses, compensation of certain persons, accumulation of income, and the 

public disclosure of foundation grants. The Committee noted that it did not have enough time 

for a full investigation. 

Following the Cox Committee, in 1953, the House established the Special Committee to 

Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and Comparable Organizations to investigate further 

whether foundations were using funds for nonexempt purposes, subversive activities, political 

purposes, propaganda, or to influence legislation. The “Reece Committee” reported in 1954,279

and found that foundations were rapidly increasing in number, and that the increase was due to 

the tax-favored status of foundations and not to charitable intent. Foreshadowing the 1969 Act, 

the Reece committee recommended a Code based definition of private foundation, expressed 

concern about excess business holdings of foundations, recommended a mandatory distribution 

of income, and suggested that any revocation of a foundation’s exempt status be retroactive. The 

Reece committee did not support certain other ideas, such as the elimination of tax-exempt status 

for foundations. 

 

of time and in the meanwhile use the funds for investments. The extra 10-percent deduction is intended 

to encourage immediately spendable receipts of contributions for charitable organizations.”).

278 The Cox Committee was named for its chairman, Representative E.E. Cox of Georgia. It held 

hearings in November and December of 1952 and reported, after the death of its chairman, on January 1, 

1953. See Tax-Exempt Foundations: Hearings before the House Select Committee to Investigate TaxExempt Foundations and Comparable Organizations, 82nd Cong., 2d Sess. (1952); H. R. Rep. No. 2514, 

82nd Cong., 2d Sess. (1953). 

279 The Reece Committee was named for its chairman, Representative B. Carroll Reece of 

Tennessee. It conducted hearings in 1954 and issued a report on December 16, 1954. See Tax Exempt 

Foundations: Hearings before the House Special Committee to Investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations and 

Comparable Organizations, 83nd Cong., 2d Sess., on H. Res. 217 (1954); H. R. Rep. No. 2681, 83nd

Cong., 2d Sess. (1954). 
88

In the 1960’s, Congressman Wright Patman issued a series of reports regarding private 

foundations, largely in his capacity as chair of the Select Committee on Small Business.280 His 

reports emphasized the impact of foundations on small businesses. In general, the reports were 

highly critical of foundations and of IRS and Treasury oversight of foundations. Mr. Patman 

studied foundations broadly (one report examined how 575 foundations spend their money) and 

also focused intensively on a handful of foundations (one report contained more than 1,000 

pages regarding a single foundation). The first report made 17 recommendations, including 

limiting foundation life to 25 years, prohibiting foundations from engaging in business, barring 

commercial lending and borrowing, enforcing the 1950 self-dealing rules, limiting the business 

holdings of foundations, and applying the corporate accumulated earnings tax to certain 

foundations. 

1965 Treasury Report

In response to requests by the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate 

Finance Committee, in 1965 the Treasury Department issued a report (the “Treasury Report”) on 

private foundations. The Treasury Report concluded that “the preponderant number of private 

foundations perform their functions without tax abuse,” but identified “serious faults” among a 

minority of foundations.281 In general, the Treasury Report evaluated three broad criticisms 

leveled at private foundations: (1) that the interposition of a foundation between the donor and 

the conduct of charitable activity results in undue delay in effectuating gifts; (2) that foundations 

were becoming a disproportionately large part of the national economy; and (3) that foundations 

represent dangerous concentrations of economic and social power.282 The Treasury Report 

concluded that the first criticism could be specifically addressed through legislation, the second 

was unwarranted, and the third was being addressed by the foundations through establishment of 

independent boards and professional staffs, securing the independence of grantees, and by 

encouraging public scrutiny. 

Still, the Treasury Report identified six “major problems” and recommended legislation. 

The major problems were self-dealing, the delay in benefit to charity, foundation involvement in 

business, family use of foundations to control corporate and other property, financial transactions 

unrelated to charitable functions, and donor involvement in foundation management. 

 280 Tax-Exempt Foundations and Charitable Trusts: Their Impact on Our Economy, Report to the 

Select Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, First Installment, 87th Cong. 2d Sess. 

(1962); Second Installment, 88th Cong. 1st Sess. (1963); Third Installment, 88th Cong. 2d Sess. (1964); 

Fourth Installment, 89th Cong., 2d Sess. (1966); Fifth Installment, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., (1967); Sixth 

Installment, 90th Cong., 2d Sess. (1968); Seventh Installment, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. (1969); Eighth 

Installment, 92d Cong., 2d Sess. (1972).

281 Treasury Department Report on Private Foundations, Committee on Finance United States 

Senate, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. (February 2, 1965) (hereinafter “1965 Treasury Report”) at 2. 

282 Id. at 5, 13-14. 
89

With respect to self dealing, the Treasury Report concluded that the approach of the 1950 

Act, which permitted self-dealing at arm’s length, was “difficult and expensive to administer, 

hard to enforce in litigation, and otherwise insufficient to prevent abuses. Whatever minor 

advantages charity may occasionally derive from the opportunity for free dealings between 

foundations and donors are too slight to overcome the weight of these considerations.”283 

Consequently, the Treasury Report recommended a general prohibition of self-dealing 

transactions, patterned on the 1950 House bill. 

To counter the problem of a delay in benefit to charity, the Treasury Report 

recommended a mandatory payout of all of a foundation’s net income on a reasonably current 

basis. Regarding involvement in business, the Treasury Report recommended an absolute limit 

(20 percent) on participation by foundations in business activities. To address family abuse of 

controlled foundations, the Treasury Report generally recommended denial of a deduction with 

respect to gifts of business interests in which the donor maintains control of the business, unless 

certain conditions were met. 

With respect to financial transactions unrelated to charitable functions, the Treasury 

Report cited three problem areas: heavy foundation borrowing to acquire productive assets 

resulting in private benefit, loans for the benefit of private parties who were not subject to the 

self-dealing rules, and the active trading of securities or speculative practices. In response, the 

Treasury Report proposed banning all foundation borrowing for investment purposes, confining 

foundation loans to necessary and safe loans that are appropriate for charitable fiduciaries, and 

prohibiting foundations from trading activities and speculative practices. 

In order to limit the influence of donor management of foundations, the Treasury Report 

recommended that after a foundation had been in existence for 25 years, no more than 25 percent 

of the foundation’s governing body could consist of donors or related parties. 

The Tax Reform Act of 1969

The private foundation provisions of the 1969 Tax Reform Act were enacted in light of 

the Treasury Report, Congressional hearings, and the Wright Patman series of reports. In 

general, a consensus had emerged that prior law was insufficient and in some respects 

inadministrable with respect to private foundations. Accordingly, the 1969 Act, closely 

following the Treasury Report, defined a private foundation and developed special rules and 

excise taxes to address the reported abuses. 

 283 Id. at 6.
90

Definition of private foundation and two-tier excise taxes

The 1969 Act generally defined private foundations as all charitable, educational, or 

religious organizations (including trusts with charitable, etc. beneficiaries)284 other than those 

described above, which are generally referred to as public charities.285

The Tax Reform Act of 1969 established a two-tier system of excise taxes intended to 

ensure compliance with the new private foundation rules. These excise taxes replaced the 

principal penalties imposed under prior law for foundation misuse, i.e., possible loss of the 

foundation’s exempt status and its eligibility to receive deductible contributions. In general, a 

first tier tax is imposed on a disqualified person (and in some cases, foundation managers) for a 

violation of a specific rule. If the violation is not corrected, a large second tier tax is imposed on 

the disqualified person, and in some cases foundation managers. 

Tax on investment income

In the 1969 Act, Congress “concluded that private foundations should share some of the 

burden of paying the cost of government, especially for more extensive and vigorous 

enforcement of the tax laws relating to exempt organizations.”286 Accordingly, a tax on the net 

investment income of private foundations was imposed.287

Self-dealing

The 1969 Act generally prohibited self-dealing transactions between a private foundation 

and a disqualified person.288 The prohibition was chosen in order to minimize the need to apply 

subjective arm’s-length standards, to avoid the temptation to misuse private foundations for 

 284 The Act further defined and provided favorable treatment for a special type of private 

foundation, the operating foundation. See footnote 248. 

285 See text at footnotes 250 to 256. 

286 Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 (JCS-16-

70), December 3, 1970, at 29. 

287 “Exempt operating foundations,” which are a subcategory of private operating foundations, 

were introduced in 1984 and are exempt from the tax on net investment income. Sec. 4940(d)(1) and (2). 

288 In general, self-dealing transactions are any direct or indirect: (1) sale or exchange, or leasing, 

of property between a private foundation and a disqualified person; (2) lending of money or other 

extension of credit between a private foundation and a disqualified person; (3) the furnishing of goods, 

services, or facilities between a private foundation and a disqualified person; (4) the payment of 

compensation (or payment or reimbursement of expenses) by a private foundation to a disqualified 

person; (5) the transfer to, or use by or for the benefit of, a disqualified person of the income or assets of 

the private foundation; and (5) certain payments of money or property to a government official. Sec. 

4941(d)(1). Certain exceptions apply. See sec. 4941(d)(2). Disqualified person is defined in section 

4946(a). 
91

noncharitable purposes, to provide a more rational relationship between sanctions and improper 

acts, and to make it more practical properly to enforce the law. Congress also determined that 

the highest fiduciary standards required complete elimination of all self-dealing, rather than 

merely imposition of arm’s length standards.289

On a practical level, Congress concluded that the arm’s length standards had proved 

difficult to enforce, resulting in sporadic and uncertain effectiveness. The prior-law penalty of 

loss of exempt status also seemed unduly harsh in comparison to the offense involved, causing 

reluctance in enforcement, especially considering the subjectivity involved in applying arms’-

length standards. Even if the IRS sought to apply sanctions, these same factors encouraged 

extensive litigation and a noticeable reluctance by the courts to uphold severe sanctions.290 

Also, the Congress concluded that compliance with arm’s-length standards often did not 

in itself prevent the use of a private foundation to benefit improperly those who control it. This 

was true, for example, where a foundation (1) purchases property from a substantial donor at a 

fair price, but does so in order to provide funds to the donor who needs cash and cannot find a 

ready buyer; (2) lends money to the donor with adequate security and at a reasonable rate of 

interest, but at a time when the money market is too tight for the donor to readily find alternate 

sources of funds; or (3) makes commitments to lease property from the donor at a fair rental 

when the donor needs such advance leases in order to secure financing for construction or 

acquisition of the property.291

Mandatory payout rules

Under the Revenue Act of 1950, certain charitable organizations (generally 

corresponding to private foundations) would lose their tax-exempt status if the organization’s 

aggregate accumulated income was “unreasonable in amount or duration” in order for the 

organization to carry out its charitable functions. In 1969, Congress replaced this rule with a 

provision that required a payout based on a specified percentage of a private foundation’s non 

charitable use assets.292

 289 Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 (JCS-16-

70), December 3, 1970, at 30-31. 

290 Id. 

291 Id. 

292 As enacted in 1969, the payout was the greater of a foundation’s income or six percent of the 

foundation’s investment assets. The Secretary of the Treasury had the authority to adjust the percentage 

periodically. The present law payout is five percent of a foundation’s investment assets. 
92

Congress determined that the prior-law restriction was defective in two respects.293 First, 

the prohibition on unreasonable income accumulations failed to preclude private foundations 

from holding or investing in assets which produced no current income, such as undeveloped 

land. As a result, although a donor to a foundation would receive an immediate charitable 

deduction on making a gift of nonproductive assets (or of property converted into such assets by 

the foundation), there could be an indefinite delay between the loss of tax revenues due to the 

deduction and the benefit intended to accrue to the public from the gift. Second, the prohibition 

on unreasonable income accumulations was difficult to enforce both because of its vagueness 

and the subjective nature of the test, and because the penalty of loss of exempt status, as was the 

case with self-dealing, was either unduly harsh for minor violations or largely ineffective for 

more substantial violations. As noted in the Treasury Report, court cases had sanctioned 

accumulations of income for up to 10 years for the sole purpose of increasing the size of the 

foundation’s corpus.294

Limitations on business holdings

In 1969, Congress adopted rules that limit the amount of permitted business holdings of a 

private foundation.295 Previously, no specific provisions addressed ownership of businesses by 

charitable organizations, including private foundations (although under the commerciality 

doctrine, any charitable organization could lose exempt status if the business activities of the 

organization predominated over charitable activities). 

Congress determined that a number of private foundations were being used to maintain 

control of businesses and was concerned that as a result foundations with significant business 

holdings tended to be relatively unconcerned about producing income, that the attention and 

interest of such foundations would be devoted to the operation, maintenance, and improvement 

of the business and not exempt activities, and that businesses owned by exempt organizations 

may be operated in a way that provides those businesses with a competitive advantage over 

 293 See H.R. Rep. No. 91-413 (Pt. 1), 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 25-27 (1969); S. Rep. No. 91-552, 91st

Cong., 1st Sess. 34-38 (1969); Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform Act 

of 1969 (JCS-16-70), December 3, 1970, at 36-40 (1970); Treasury Department Report on Private 

Foundations, House Committee on Ways and Means, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. 23-30, 58-60, 92-96 (Comm. 

Print 1965). 

294 See 1965 Treasury Report, at 26. 

295 In general, a private foundation is permitted to hold 20 percent of the voting stock in a 

corporation, reduced by the amount of voting stock held by all disqualified persons. If it is established 

that no disqualified person has effective control of the corporation, a private foundation and disqualified 

persons together may own up to 35 percent of the voting stock of a corporation. Similar rules apply with 

respect to holdings in a partnership and to other unincorporated enterprises. Private foundations are not 

permitted to have holdings in a proprietorship. Foundations generally have a five-year period to dispose 

of excess business holdings (acquired other than by purchase) without being subject to tax. Sec. 

4943(c)(6). This five-year period may be extended an additional five years in limited circumstances. 

Sec. 4943(c)(7). 
93

businesses owned by taxable persons. Thus, the Congress concluded that a private foundation 

should be limited in the amount of a business that it may control. 

Prohibition on jeopardizing investments

Prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1969, a private foundation would lose its tax-exempt 

status if its accumulated income was invested in a manner that jeopardized the carrying out of its 

charitable purposes. No similar limitation applied to investment of principal. Congress 

determined that investments of principal that jeopardize exempt purposes may reduce benefits to 

charity just as much as jeopardizing investments of accumulated income. In addition, the loss of 

exemption of prior law was considered too harsh a sanction, and a more limited sanction was 

needed. 

Restrictions on foundation expenditures

The taxation of certain expenditures of a private foundation was intended as an 

enforcement mechanism to several of the general prohibitions on the conduct of charitable 

organizations and foundations, for example, the lobbying limitation, the prohibition of political 

activities, and the use of accumulated income for non exempt purposes. Congress determined 

that, with respect to foundations, these prior-law rules were defective not only because of the 

harshness of the sanction, but also because, in the case of the lobbying rules, large foundations 

could still engage in significant amounts of lobbying, and, in the case of political activities, the 

law was unclear as to whether certain activities, such as voter registration campaigns and 

publication of the views, personalities, and activities of candidates, were prohibited. Congress 

also was concerned that some grants by foundations were not being used for charitable purposes, 

but instead were being used for purposes such as vacations or to subsidize the preparation of 

material furthering political viewpoints. The Congress also concluded that private foundations 

should take substantial responsibility for the proper use of grants they make. Accordingly, 

Congress adopted rules that treated as taxable expenditures expenses: (1) for lobbying; (2) to 

influence the outcome of a public election or carry on a voter registration drive (unless certain 

requirements are met); (3) as a grant to an individual for travel, study, or similar purposes unless 

made pursuant to procedures approved by the Secretary; (4) as a grant to an organization that is 

not a public charity or exempt operating foundation unless the foundation exercises expenditure 

responsibility296 with respect to the grant; or (5) for any non-charitable purpose. 

Tax on termination of private foundations

As highlighted by the Reece Committee, there was a concern that the sanction of 

revocation of tax exempt status was ineffective for private foundations unless the revocation 

could be made retroactive. In general, a fully funded private foundation may have received 

many of the benefits of tax exemption and be indifferent to revocation. Thus, the Reece 

 296 In general, expenditure responsibility requires that a foundation make all reasonable efforts 

and establish reasonable procedures to ensure that the grant is spent solely for the purpose for which it 

was made, to obtain reports from the grantee on the expenditure of the grant, and to make reports to the 

Secretary regarding such expenditures. Sec. 4945(h). 
94

Committee suggested that revocations be retroactive. Also, prompted by a concern that the 

definition of a private foundation by the 1969 Act and the imposition of tough new rules might 

lead a number of private foundations to terminate or reorganize, Congress imposed a termination 

tax on private foundations that terminate existence.297 “Congress concluded that foundations 

should not receive substantial and continuing tax benefits in exchange for the promise of the use 

of the assets involved for educational, charitable, religious, etc., purposes but avoid the carrying 

out of these responsibilities.”298 A change in private foundation status generally would not be 

permitted unless the foundation “repays to the government the aggregate tax benefits (with 

interest) which have resulted from its exempt status.”299

1996 Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 -- intermediate sanctions on public charities

Prior to 1996, there was no sanction, short of revocation of tax exemption, on 

organization insiders or disqualified persons for engaging in self-dealing transactions with 

respect to a public charity, even though private foundations had been subject to self-dealing rules 

since 1969. In 1996, Congress enacted new “intermediate sanctions” in the form of excise taxes 

on “excess benefit transactions” between a public charity or a social welfare organization and an 

insider of the organization.300 An excess benefit transaction generally is a transaction in which 

an economic benefit is provided by a public charity or social welfare organization directly or 

indirectly to or for the use of a disqualified person if the value of the economic benefit provided 

exceeds the value of the consideration (including the performance of services) received for 

providing such benefit. An excise tax is imposed on any such excess. 

 Like the 1950 Act self-dealing rules applicable to private foundations, the 1996 

“intermediate sanctions” rules generally permit insider transactions to occur so long as no excess 

benefit is provided to an organization insider.301 Congress determined in 1996 that under prior 

law the chances of the IRS finding an abusive self-dealing transaction and actually revoking the 

organization’s exemption were slim and that an intermediate sanction was appropriate. The 

 297 The tax is imposed on the voluntary or involuntary termination of the status of an organization 

as a private foundation unless such organization transfers its net assets to, or begins to operate as, a public 

charity. The tax generally is equal to the aggregate tax benefit resulting from the organization’s status as 

a charitable organization (including the entire period the organization was exempt as a charitable 

organization), not to exceed the value of the net assets of the foundation. The tax also applies in certain 

cases involving willful repeated acts or failures to act, or a willful and flagrant act or failure to act, that 

gives rise to liability for excise taxes under the private foundation rules. Sec. 507. 

298 Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 (JCS-16-

70), December 3, 1970, at 56. 

299 Id. 

300 Sec. 4958. 

301 As noted above, Congress significantly tightened the private foundation rules in 1969 in part 

because arm’s length standards proved difficult to enforce. 
95

Secretary issued proposed regulations with respect to excess benefit transactions in January 2001 

and final regulations in January 2002. 

Selected issues relating to the public charity - private foundation distinction

In general

The 1969 Act solidified the distinction between public charities and private foundations, 

and there are now very different rules that apply to each type of charitable organization. In the 

years leading up to the 1969 Act, private foundations were widely seen as abusive because 

substantial contributors of foundations generally retained control of the foundation, calling into 

question the foundation’s commitment to charitable purposes. The 1969 Act, the Treasury 

Report, and the Reece and Cox committees (though not the Patman reports) recognized the 

important role of private foundations in the charitable sector, but recognizing abuses, sought to 

constrain the foundation, while continuing its favored tax status. In 2005, thirty-six years after 

Congress first drew a meaningful legal distinction between publicly supported organizations and 

private foundations, it may not be as clear, given the growth and diversity of publicly supported 

organizations, why some of the private foundation rules are not relevant for certain public 

charities, or whether some of the private foundation rules are performing their intended purpose. 

For example, some have argued that publicly supported organizations are in general no less 

susceptible to abuse than private foundations by certain insiders of the organization, yet very 

different rules apply. The retention of substantial holdings in a commercial business, the making 

of investments or expenditures that jeopardize or are inconsistent with exempt purposes, or the 

maintenance of large endowment funds raise some of the same concerns whether conducted by a 

public charity or a private foundation. Some also have questioned the relevance of a tax on the 

net investment income of private foundations, either as an anachronism or as burden that should 

be shared equally among exempt or charitable organizations. 

Supporting organizations

As noted above, in defining a private foundation, the 1969 Act provided that an 

organization that provides support to a public charity (a “supporting organization”) is considered 

a public charity and not a private foundation. Thus, supporting organizations receive the benefit 

of the favorable charitable contribution deduction rules and avoid the excise tax regime 

applicable to private foundations.302 For example, because a supporting organization is treated 

as a public charity, donors to supporting organizations may take a fair market value deduction for 

contributions of capital gain property such as closely held stock, which would not be permitted 

for gifts to private foundations. As a public charity, supporting organizations also are not subject 

to the private foundation self-dealing rules (e.g., barring loans and other transactions with 

insiders), limitations on business holdings, or subject to the private foundation payout rules. 

However, unlike other public charities but like private foundations, supporting organizations 

generally do not have broadly based support, and may resemble private foundations in other 

respects, for example by having grant-making as a primary or sole activity or by holding 

 302 Sec. 509(a)(3). 
96

substantial funds for investment. Nevertheless, in general, supporting organizations are 

considered as public charities because of their supporting function and their relationship to one 

or more public charities.303 

The determination of whether an organization qualifies as a supporting organization and, 

thus, exception from the private foundation rules often involves the consideration of complex 

rules and regulations.304 Use of supporting organizations has been increasing in recent years and 

the IRS has listed abusive use of the supporting organization form as one of the “dirty dozen” 

notorious tax scams. 

Under present law, to qualify as a supporting organization, an organization must meet 

three tests: (1) it must be organized and at all times operated for the benefit of, and to perform 

the function of, supported organizations (the “organizational and operational test);305 (2) it must 

be operated, supervised, or controlled by, or in connection with, one or more supported 

organizations (the “relationship test”);306 and (3) it must not be controlled directly or indirectly 

by one or more disqualified persons (as defined in section 4946) other than foundation managers 

and other than one or more supported organizations (the “lack of outside control test”).307 

Because the public charity status of a supporting organization is derivative of the status of 

another public charity, the solidity of the relationship between the supporting and the supported 

organization is important. Under present law, relationships must be one of three types. The first 

two types of supporting organizations are based on relationships with their supported 

organizations similar to that between a parent and subsidiary corporation (“type I supporting 

organizations”)308 and a brother-sister corporation (“type II supporting organizations”).309 The 

 303 This is based on the theory that supporting organizations are “subject to the scrutiny of a 

public charity.” Quarrie v. Commissioner, 603 F.2d 1274, 1278 (7th Cir.1979). 

304 In considering the regulations for supporting organizations, one court commented that “the 

IRS has drafted fantastically intricate and detailed regulations to thwart the fantastically intricate and 

detailed efforts of taxpayers to obtain private benefits from foundations while evading the imposition of 

taxes.” Windsor Foundation v. United States, 77-2 U.S.T.C. 9709 (E.D. Va. 1977). 

305 Sec. 509(a)(3)(A). 

306 Sec. 509(a)(3)(B). 

307 Sec. 509(a)(3)(C). 

308 The distinguishing feature is the presence of a substantial degree of direction over the 

policies, programs, and activities of the supporting organization. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.509(a)-4(g)(1)(i). 

The relationship may be established by the fact that a majority of the members of the controlling body of 

the supporting organization (e.g., its officers, directors, or trustees) are appointed or elected by the 

governing body, members of the governing body, officers acting in their official capacity or the 

membership of one or more publicly supported organizations. 

309 This relationship requires common supervision and control by the persons supervising or 

controlling both the supporting organization and the supported organization. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.509(a)- 
97

relationship between the third type of supporting organization (“type III supporting 

organizations”) and the supported organization lacks the supervision or control present with both 

type I and type II supporting organizations. Rather than control, type III supporting 

organizations must be “operated in connection with” one or more publicly supported 

organizations.310 

Examples of supporting organizations

The following are examples of supporting organizations: 

• A university press organized as a nonstock educational corporation and operated to 

perform a university’s printing and publishing. The organization is controlled by a 

board of governors appointed by the university’s board of trustees (type I).311

• A charitable trust, whose trustees are appointed by a university. The trust was 

organized and is operated to pay over all its income to certain hospitals that allow the 

university’s faculty members to use the hospitals’ research facilities (type I).312 

• A scientific study council organized under the joint sponsorship of several 

independent, publicly supported organizations. Each of the sponsoring organizations 

elects members to the council’s board. The remaining board members are the 

council’s president and at-large members elected by the council’s board (type I).313

• A community trust created by a publicly supported community chest to hold 

permanently endowed charitable funds and to distribute income to local publiclysupported charities. A majority of the community trust’s trustees are appointed by the 

community chest’s governing body (type I).314

 

4(h)(1). In order to this meet this requirement, the control or management of the supporting organization 

must be vested in the same persons that control or manage the supported organizations. 

310 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.509(a)-4(f)(2)(iii). The “operated in connection with” relationship rests 

upon findings that the supporting organization is “responsive” to and significantly involved in (or an 

“integral part” of) the operations the supported organization. Treas. Reg. sec. 1.509(a)-4(i)(1). The 

responsiveness test requires a showing that the supporting organization is responsive to the needs and 

demands of the supported organization. The integral part test requires a showing that the supporting 

organization maintains a significant involvement in the operations of one or more supported 

organizations. In neither case does the law require that a supported organization consent to or necessarily 

be aware of a supporting organization organized and operated for its benefit. 

311 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.509(a)-4(g)(2), Example (1). 

312 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.509(a)-4(g)(2), Example (3). 

313 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.509(a)-4(g)(2), Example (2). 

314 Rev. Rul. 81-43, 1981-2 C.B. 350. 
98

• A certain charitable trust established for the benefit of a church (Type II).315

• A charitable trust established to provide college scholarships for students at a 

community high school. The municipality, of which the community high school is an 

integral part, is the beneficiary organization (Type III).316

Community foundations and donor advised funds

Once a donor makes a gift to charity, the gift becomes the property of the charitable 

organization and the donor generally retains little or no authority over use or investment of the 

donated property. The Code and Treasury regulations, however, offer limited ways for donors to 

exercise post-transfer control or direction over the use of funds or other property transferred to a 

charity for which the donor is entitled to a deduction in the year of transfer. One such 

mechanism is the community trust (or community foundation) which permits donors to 

designate, subject to certain restrictions, the purposes for which the assets are to be used.317 

Another such mechanism is the donor advised fund. 

Generally, a community foundation is an organization established to receive gifts or 

bequests from the public and to administer them for charitable purposes primarily in the 

community or area in which it is located. A community foundation generally is classified as a 

public charity, rather than a private foundation, because the component funds it receives from the 

public allow it to qualify as a publicly supported organization. The first community foundation 

was established in 1914 by the Cleveland Trust Company, a bank. By 1991, the IRS estimated 

that there were over 400 community foundations holding over $8 billion in assets and 

distributing $525 million to charities.318

In recent years, many commercial entities have established and promoted donor advised 

funds to attract contributions from individual taxpayers who wish to have input or specify how 

they would like their contributions to be distributed. Although not defined by the Code or 

regulations,319 donor advised funds, sometimes referred to as the “poor man’s private 

 315 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.509(a)-4(h)(3), Example (3). 

316 Nellie Callahan Scholarship Fund v. Commissioner, 73 T.C. 626 (1980). The IRS does not 

acquiesce in this decision. 1980-2 C.B. 2. 

317 See Treas. Reg. secs. 1.170A-9(e)(10) through (13). Generally, a community foundation is an 

organization established to receive gifts or bequests from the public and to administer them for charitable 

purposes primarily in the community or area in which it is located. 

318 Wendell R. Bird, How to Establish Donor-Advised Funds and Community Foundations, 13 J. 

Tax’n Exempt Org. 68 (September-October 2001), (citing George Johnson and David Jones, Community 

Foundations, IRS, Exempt Organizations Continuing Professional Educational Technical Instruction 

Program for FY 1994, page 135 (1993)). 

319 Recently revised instructions to the Form 1023, the application for exempt status under 

section 501(c)(3), define a “donor-advised fund” as a fund established with “separate accounts for a 

donor whereby the donor may exercise a right to make a recommendation on either uses of the account, 
99

foundation,” may be described as publicly supported organizations or funds operated by public 

charities, in which contributors to the fund are permitted to advise the fund as to either 

investments, distributions, or both. In general, because the IRS has determined that certain donor 

advised funds qualify as publicly supported charities,320 contributors to donor advised funds can 

have the benefit of the favorable public charity rules and some elements of the control over 

distributions provided by a private foundation without being subject to the legal constraints 

placed on a private foundation. Thus, a donor can fund an account in a donor advised fund with 

cash or capital gain property, take a fair market value deduction, accumulate income in the fund, 

and from time to time recommend that amounts be paid out of the fund for charitable purposes. 

Donor advised funds, like supporting organizations, illustrate an entity that resembles a private 

foundation in many ways, but is considered a public charity. 

The first donor advised fund formed by a mutual fund was established by Fidelity 

Investments in 1991. By 1999, this fund had grown to assets of $1.7 billion and annual income 

of $867 million.321 As of 2001, Fidelity was the largest donor advised fund and also the fifth 

largest charity in the United States. According to one estimate, the total assets in donor advised 

funds have more than tripled from 1995 to 1999, to approximately $7.5 billion.322

Both community foundations and donor advised funds allow donors to make 

contributions and later give nonbinding advice about distributions to public charities.323 

Charities typically establish a community foundation, whereas a mutual fund, bank, or 

community foundation may establish a donor advised fund. Community foundations (at least if 

formed as trusts) are defined by and subject to Treasury regulations, while the IRS has not 

applied those regulations to donor advised funds. 

 

such as providing advice about how to invest, or distributions from the account, such as providing advice 

about how to make expenditures.” 

320 See Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9807030 (November 19, 1997); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9412039 (March 25, 1994). 

321 Wendell R. Bird, How to Establish Donor-Advised Funds and Community Foundations, 13 J. 

Tax’n Exempt Org. 68 (September-October 2001). 

322 Id. 

323 If the advice or direction of the donor is binding on the donor advised fund or community 

foundation, the donor is unlikely to be viewed as having relinquished sufficient control over the donated 

funds or assets to have made a completed gift. Under such circumstances, the donor would not be entitled 

to an immediate deduction at the time of the contribution. In practice, however, most donor advised funds 

and community foundations follow the nonbinding advice of donors. 
100

E. General History of the Unrelated Business Income Tax 

In general

The Code imposes a tax, at ordinary corporate rates, on the income that a tax-exempt 

organization obtains from an “unrelated trade or business ... regularly carried on by it.”324 

Generally, “unrelated trade or business” is “any trade or business the conduct of which is not 

substantially related . . . to the exercise or performance by such organization of its charitable, 

educational, or other purpose.”325 The Code thus sets up a three-part test for determining 

whether income from an activity is subject to the unrelated business income tax: (1) the activity 

constitutes a trade or business; (2) the activity is regularly carried on; and (3) the activity is not 

substantially related to the organization’s tax-exempt purposes. The fact that a charity requires 

revenues to accomplish its charitable mission does not make a revenue raising activity (e.g., fund 

raising) related to its exempt purposes.326

Business income prior to 1950

Until the introduction of the unrelated business income tax in 1950, exempt organizations 

enjoyed a full exemption from Federal income tax. If a charitable or other exempt organization 

met the organizational and operational requirements of the statute, there was no statutory 

limitation on the amount of business activity an exempt organization could conduct so long as 

the earnings from the business were used for exempt purposes. In other words, prior to 1950, 

exempt organizations did not pay tax on commercial business income and could invest business 

earnings in the conduct and expansion of exempt programs. 

An early Supreme Court decision, Trinidad v. Sagrada Orden de Predicadores, 

established this “destination of income” test.327 In Trinidad, the taxing authority sought to apply 

the corporate income tax to a religious organization on the ground that the organization was not 

operated exclusively for exempt purposes. The organization held investment property, from 

which it received rents, interest, and dividends, and engaged for profit in the limited trade of 

goods such as wine and chocolate to related organizations. In upholding the organization’s tax 

exemption, the Court found it important that the income from the properties “is devoted 

exclusively to religious, charitable and educational purposes” conducted by the organization and 

the trading in goods was “purely incidental to the pursuit of those purposes, and is in no sense a 

distinct or external venture.”328 Because the statutory language creating exemption said nothing 

 324 Secs. 512(a)(1), 511(a)(1). 

325 Sec. 513(a). 

326 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.513-1(a). 

327 263 U.S. 578 (1924). As discussed elsewhere, Trinidad also laid the foundation for the 

commerciality doctrine, i.e., an organization could lose exemption if it became too commercial in 

character. 

328 Id. at 581. 
101

about the source of an organization’s income, the statute “makes the destination the ultimate test 

of exemption.”329 However, as if foreshadowing the unrelated business income tax, the Court 

noted that “[i]t is not claimed that there is any selling to the public or in competition with 

others.”330 

In later years, courts extended the destination of income test to the exemption even of 

charitable organizations that did not conduct any charitable programs, but rather operated 

commercial businesses for the benefit of a charitable organization. Tax exemption for such so 

called “feeder” organizations was recognized in Roche’s Beach, Inc. v. Commissioner,

331 in 

which the court held that a bathing beach business that turned its profits over to a charitable 

organization was exempt. The business was purely a commercial operation, the renting of bath 

houses, swim suits, towels, and other activities. 

The destination of income and feeder corporation concepts reached their peak in C.F. 

Mueller Co. v. Commissioner,

332 in which the C.F. Mueller Company, one of the nation’s leading 

makers of pasta, was acquired by a new tax exempt corporation, which distributed all the 

dividends received from operating the noodle company to the New York University School of 

Law, a tax exempt educational organization. The Commissioner challenged the tax-exemption 

of the pasta company, but the court upheld the exemption on the ground that the pasta company’s 

profits were destined for the School of Law’s exempt programs. Accordingly, the operation of a 

commercial business was held to be consistent with operation for a charitable purpose.333 

In addition to the use of feeder corporations as a source of revenue, another common 

practice of charitable organizations in the years before 1950 was the acquisition of real estate 

with borrowed funds. In a typical transaction, a tax-exempt organization, often a college or 

university, would borrow money to acquire real estate, lease the property back to the seller under 

a long-term lease, and service the loan with tax-free rental income from the lease. Under such 

transactions, there was a concern that exempt organizations were in effect leveraging their tax 

exemption and threatening the tax base by acquiring, through debt, income producing assets that 

after the acquisition no longer generated revenue for the Federal government. 

 329 Id. 

330 Id. at 582. 

331 96 F.2d 776 (2d Cir. 1938). 

332 190 F.2d 120 (3d Cir. 1951). 

333 In Mueller, the new corporation purchased the pasta company for $3.5 million. Other 

acquisitions had been made on behalf of New York University in the same time period, e.g., Howes 

Leather Company at $35 million, American Limoges China, Inc., at $3.3 million, and a piston ring 

manufacturer, the Ramsey Corporation, at $3 million. Hearings Before the House Committee on Ways 

and Means, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., pt. 1 at 780, 799 (1950). 
102

Revenue Act of 1950

As a response to the practices and rulings discussed above, in the Revenue Act of 1950 

Congress subjected charitable organizations (not including churches), labor, agricultural, and 

horticultural organizations, business leagues, certain trusts, and certain title holding companies to 

tax on their unrelated business income.334 The legislative history of the 1950 Act provides that 

“the problem at which the tax on unrelated business income is directed here is primarily that of 

unfair competition.”335 Congress decided not to deny or revoke tax-exempt status solely because 

the organization carried on unrelated active business enterprises, but instead “merely [imposed] 

the same tax on income derived therefrom as is borne by their competitors.”336 The unrelated 

business income tax did not apply to all commercial activity of an exempt organization, but only 

to businesses that were unrelated to the organization’s exempt purposes. In addition, excluded 

from the tax was passive investment income, such as dividends, interest, annuities, royalties, 

certain rents, and gains and losses from the disposition of property other than inventory or 

property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of the trade or business. 

Excluded from the definition of an unrelated trade or business was a trade or business in which 

substantially all the work in carrying on the business is performed for the organization without 

compensation, a trade or business carried on primarily for the convenience of the members, 

students, patients, officers, or employees of the organization, and a trade or business (such as a 

thrift shop) that sells merchandise, substantially all of which is received by the organizations as 

gifts or contributions.337 

Specifically to address the issue of feeder organizations, the 1950 Act provided that, in 

general, an organization that is operated primarily for the purpose of carrying on a trade or 

business for profit may not be recognized as tax-exempt merely because all of the organization’s 

profits are payable to tax-exempt organizations. The legislative history explained that a feeder 

organization “obviously is in direct competition with other taxable businesses” and thus should 

be fully taxable. Unrelated trade or business income thus is subject to tax whether the trade or 

business activity is conducted directly by the organization or through a feeder subsidiary. 

 334 Revenue Act of 1950, Pub. L. No. 81-814, sec. 301. In 1951, Congress extended the 

unrelated business income tax to the income of State colleges and universities. Sec. 511(a)(2)(B). 

335 H.R. Rep. No. 2319, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 36 (1950); Sen. Rep. No. 2375, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 

28 (1950). The Supreme Court has stated that the “undisputed purpose” of the unrelated business income 

tax is “to prevent tax-exempt organizations from competing unfairly with businesses whose earnings were 

taxed.” United States v. American Bar Endowment, 477 U.S. 105, 114 (1986); United States v. American 

College of Physicians, 475 U.S. 834, 838 (1986) (“Congress perceived a need to restrain the unfair 

competition fostered by the tax laws.”). 

336 H.R. Rep. No. 2319, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 37 (1950); S. Rep. No. 2375, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 

39 (1950). 

337 Sec. 513(a). 
103

The 1950 Act also taxed certain rents received in connection with the leveraged sale and 

leaseback of real estate.338 Here, Congress was concerned that the debt-financed sale-leaseback 

transaction could result in exempt organizations owning “the great bulk of the commercial and 

industrial real estate in the country. This, of course, would lower drastically the rental income 

included in the corporate and individual income tax bases.”339

Tax Reform Act of 1969

Nineteen years later, in the Tax Reform Act of 1969, Congress made significant changes 

to the unrelated business income tax rules. The 1969 Act extended the tax to all exempt 

organizations described in section 501(c) and 401(a) (except United States instrumentalities). 

Thus, churches, social welfare organizations, social clubs, fraternal beneficiary societies, 

employees’ beneficiary organizations, teachers retirement fund associations, benevolent life 

insurance associations, cemetery companies, credit unions, mutual insurance companies, and 

farmers cooperatives formed to finance crop operations were subjected to the tax.340 The 

legislative history explains: “Some churches are engaged in operating publishing houses, hotels, 

factories, radio and TV stations, parking lots, newspapers, bakeries, restaurants, etc. 

Furthermore, it is difficult to justify taxing a university or hospital which runs a public restaurant 

or hotel or other business and not tax a country club or lodge engaged in similar activity.”341 

In addition, the 1969 Act expanded the tax on debt-financed income, in response to a 

Supreme Court decision,342 to cover not only certain rents from debt-financed acquisitions of real 

estate, but to tax in addition other debt-financed income such as interest, dividends, other rents, 

royalties, and certain gains and losses from any type of property. The change was made because 

under the 1950 legislation, exempt organizations continued to be able to leverage exempt status 

 338 There was an exception for rental income from a lease of five years or less. 

339 H.R. Rep. No. 2319, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. 39 (1950). 

340 The tax also applies to certain State colleges and universities and their wholly owned 

subsidiaries. Sec. 511(a)(2)(B). 

341 Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Revenue Act of 1969 (JCS-16-70), 

December 3, 1970, at 67. 

342 Commissioner v. Clay B. Brown, 380 U.S. 563 (1965). The “Clay Brown” transaction was 

one in which a corporate business was sold to a charitable organization, which made a small or no down 

payment and agreed to pay the balance of the purchase price out of profits from the property. The charity 

liquidated the corporation, leased the business assets back to the seller, who formed a new corporation to 

operate the business. The newly formed corporation paid a large portion of its business profits as “rent” 

to the foundation, which then paid most of these receipts back to the original owner as installment 

payments on the initial purchase price. In this fashion, a taxable business was able to realize increased 

after-tax income, and the exempt organization acquired the ownership of a business without the 

investment of its own funds. See Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform 

Act of 1969 (JCS-16-70), December 3, 1970, at 62. 
104

to buy businesses and investments on credit, often at more than market price, without 

contributing much if anything to the transaction other than tax exemption.343 

In order to prevent evasion of the unrelated business income tax through the use of 

controlled subsidiaries, the 1969 Act also generally provided that payments to a tax-exempt 

organization of interest, annuities, royalties, and rent from a taxable subsidiary of such 

organization are subject to the unrelated business income tax.344 Also subjected to unrelated 

business income tax were payments from a tax-exempt subsidiary to its tax-exempt parent to the 

extent that the subsidiary’s income is unrelated income of the subsidiary. These provisions were 

intended to prevent tax-exempt organizations from “renting” assets to a subsidiary for use in an 

unrelated business, thereby permitting the subsidiary to escape income taxes through a large rent 

deduction.345

The 1969 Act also introduced the “fragmentation” rule, pursuant to which a trade or 

business activity still is considered a trade or business even if it is merely a part of a larger 

aggregate of activities that may or may not be related activities of an organization. Thus, an 

exempt organization that publishes a periodical for educational purposes generally will be 

subject to unrelated business income tax with respect to income from advertising in the 

periodical.346

Post-1969 modifications -- in general

Since 1969, Congress has made a number of changes to the unrelated business income 

tax rules, but the structure of the tax has remained largely intact. Mostly, changes have been to 

provide addition exclusions from tax for income on certain specified activities, such as: (1) 

qualified public entertainment activities; (2) qualified convention and trade show activities; (3) 

providing certain hospital services; (4) conducting bingo games; (5) engaging in telephone pole 

rentals; (6) distribution of low-cost articles in soliciting charitable contributions; (7) certain 

exchanges or rentals of member or donor mailing lists; and (8) certain corporate sponsorship 

payments (discussed below). In 1997 the rules relating to payments from taxable and tax exempt 

subsidiaries to an exempt parent were tightened “to prevent subsidiaries of tax-exempt 

organizations from reducing their otherwise taxable income by borrowing, leasing, or licensing 

assets from a tax-exempt parent organization at inflated levels.”347 The American Jobs Creation 

 343 Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 (JCS-16-

70), December 3, 1970, at 62. 

344 See sec. 512(b)(13). 

345 Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform Act of 1969 (JCS-16-

70), December 3, 1970, at 71. 

346 Sec. 513(c). 

347 Pub. L. No. 105-34. Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of Tax Legislation 

Enacted in 1997 (JCS-23-97), December 17, 1997, at 239. 
105

Act of 2004 modified the debt-finance income rules to provide an exclusion from the definition 

of acquisition indebtedness certain indebtedness of a small business investment company 

licensed under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958,348 and provided an exclusion from 

the unrelated business income tax rules the gain or loss from certain dispositions of certain 

brownfield property.349 

Selected issues relating to the unrelated business income tax

Fundraising

Although the unrelated business income tax and the feeder corporation rule generally 

overturned the destination of income test, the general principle of the test -- that the source of a 

charitable organization’s income is not important so long as the income is used to further 

charitable purposes -- is still viable with respect to noncommercial or passive investment 

activity. For example, exempt organization law does not tax proceeds from fundraising unless 

the fundraising activity is considered an unrelated trade or business. Thus, an organization may 

conduct significant activities that are not in themselves charitable in order to raise funds for 

charitable purposes. For example, the sale of educational items in a museum shop, royalties 

received from the licensing of an organization’s logo or intellectual property, corporate 

sponsorship payments, and proceeds from car donation programs all are exempt from tax, even if 

the revenue raising activity is a substantial part of an organization’s programs, because the funds 

raised are used to further charitable purposes (including the funding of the fundraising activity 

itself). 

Reporting of unrelated business income

As noted, the rationale of the unrelated business income tax was to level the playing field 

between the unrelated commercial activities of exempt organizations and the activities of for 

profit taxable organizations. Thus, the unrelated business income tax is similar to the corporate 

income tax, in that an exempt organization may net unrelated income and expenses attributable 

to such income in calculating the tax. However, the reporting of unrelated business income by 

exempt organizations differs from reporting of income by taxable organizations. In general, 

exempt organizations have greater discretion than taxable organizations in determining whether 

to report income as taxable or not, for example by finessing the question of whether income is 

from a regularly conducted trade or business, and if so, whether the conduct of that trade or 

business is “substantially related” to its exempt purposes. In addition, even if an exempt 

organization treats income as unrelated and therefore as subject to tax, an exempt organization 

might allocate expenses for an exempt activity to an unrelated activity in order to minimize or 

eliminate the tax. 

 348 Sec. 514(c)(6)(A)(ii). 

349 Sec. 512(b)(18) [sic. 512(b)(19)]. 
106

Corporate sponsorship payments

The unfair competition rationale underlying the unrelated business income tax is 

implicated when exempt organizations receive income from activities that are not subject to the 

tax but that may provide an exempt organization with a competitive advantage in conducting an 

activity over a for-profit organization. Congress recently addressed such a case in 1997 by 

enacting rules about the tax treatment of corporate sponsorship payments, which some have 

argued is a form of advertising. Corporate sponsorship payments generally are exempt from 

unrelated business income tax under a special rule, so long as certain requirements are met.350 

Prior to enactment of the special rule, the IRS had often questioned whether such arrangements 

allow charitable entities the ability to offer advertising to corporations at a lower rate. 

In general, a corporate sponsorship payment is a payment from a corporation to a taxexempt organization in exchange for becoming an “official sponsor” of a particular event of the 

tax-exempt organization. For example, a corporate sponsorship payment may occur when a 

corporation pays a university to become an official sponsor of the university’s football program, 

and the university in turn displays the corporation’s name and logo on the university’s football 

stadium where it can be seen by attendees and television viewers. 351 Another example is 

payment to an educational organization that regularly broadcasts a program in exchange for 

being featured on the program as a sponsor. 

For a number of years, the IRS was of the view that many corporate sponsorship 

payments were subject to the unrelated business income tax. One notable example concerned the 

1991 Mobil Cotton Bowl, whereby the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association (a tax-exempt 

organization) received a $1.5 million corporate sponsorship payment from Mobil Oil. The IRS 

challenged Mobil Oil’s sponsorship payment and determined that the payment was for 

advertising.352

 350 Sec. 513(i). 

351 In 1991 total corporate sponsorship payments to tax-exempt organizations was $1.1 billion, of 

which about $64 million was paid to the college football bowl organizations. Of this $64 million, an 

estimated $19.6 million was received for corporate title sponsorships rather than as corporate royalty 

payments. See Dennis Zimmerman, Corporate Title Sponsorship Payments to Nonprofit College 

Football Bowl Games: Should They Be Taxed?, Congressional Research Service 92-157E, Doc. 92-1744 

(Feb. 11, 1992). 

352 See Frank James Vari, The Unrelated Business Income Tax and its Effects Upon Collegiate 

Athletics, 9 Akron Tax J. 111 (1992). Several key court decisions were used in support of the IRS’s 

position. Included among these cases is United States v. American Bar Endowment, 477 U.S. 105 (1986), 

in which the Supreme Court stated that the standard test for the existence of a “trade or business” is 

whether the provision of goods or services is entered into with the dominant hope and intent of realizing a 

profit. Using that rationale, the IRS concluded that by providing valuable services, including advertising 

services, in return for large payments, the organization was engaged in an activity for the production of 

income from the provision of services. Hence, the organization was engaged in a trade or business 

activity. 
107

In 1993, the IRS published proposed regulations to clarify the tax treatment of 

sponsorship payments and provide a safe harbor whereby sponsorship payments that met certain 

criteria would not be treated as unrelated business income. However, the proposed regulations 

generated controversy and left unanswered questions. Thus, in 1997, Congress added section 

513(i) to the Code in order to reduce the uncertainty with regard to the tax treatment of corporate 

sponsorship payments to exempt organizations. Congress determined that it was appropriate to 

distinguish sponsorship payments for which the donor receives no substantial return benefit other 

than the use or acknowledgment of the donor’s name or logo as part of a sponsored event from 

payments made in exchange for advertising provided by the recipient organization. The latter, 

but not the former, are subject to the unrelated business income tax.353

Affinity credit card arrangements and mailing list rentals

Issues often arise regarding whether certain types of receipts constitute royalties, which 

generally are excluded in determining an organization’s unrelated business taxable income.354 

Whether a particular income item is a royalty received in exchange for the passive license of an 

organization’s intellectual property will be determined based on the facts and circumstances of 

the case.355 Two issues that have been the source of considerable debate in this area are: (1) 

whether income from an affinity credit card program constitutes a royalty and (2) whether 

income from a mailing list rental constitutes a royalty. 

Affinity credit card arrangements generally involve an agreement between an 

organization and a credit card issuer under which the organization’s name and logo will appear 

on the issuer’s credit cards. The cards are then marketed to an “affinity group,” i.e., a group of 

individuals associated with the organization. The organization, in turn, receives a payment that 

is usually based on a percentage of charges on the affinity cards. The issue that generally arises 

is whether the payment to the exempt organization is in exchange for the passive license of 

valuable intellectual property or is instead a payment for services, and thus not a royalty. For 

 353 Sec. 513(i). An exempt “qualified sponsorship payment” is defined as any payment made by 

a person engaged in a trade or business with respect to which the person will receive no substantial return 

benefit other than the use or acknowledgment of the name or logo (or product lines) of the person’s trade 

or business in connection with the organization’s activities. However, if the business receives advertising 

(or other benefits) in exchange for making a payment, then the payment may be considered payment for 

the advertising or other benefits. In that case, only the amount of the payment (if any) that exceeds the 

fair market value of the advertising or other benefits is a qualified sponsorship payment. On April 24, 

2002, the IRS issued final regulations providing a safe harbor from taxation for qualified sponsorship 

payments. The final regulations clarified that payments other than qualified sponsorship payments are not 

automatically subject to unrelated business income tax. Instead, the tax treatment of nonqualified 

payments is determined under otherwise applicable unrelated business income tax rules. Treas. Reg. sec. 

1.513-4. 

354 Sec. 512(b)(1). 

355 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.512(b)-1. 
108

example, in Sierra Club v. Commissioner,

356 the Tax Court considered whether the retention by 

Sierra Club of the right to review promotional and marketing materials constituted the provision 

of marketing services by Sierra Club such as would convert the payment from a payment for a 

passive license to a payment for Sierra Club’s active participation in the marketing program. 

The court also considered whether an agreement by Sierra Club “to cooperate” in the solicitation 

and encouragement of Sierra Club’s members to participate in the program. The court sided with 

the taxpayer on both issues, finding that neither the retained right to approve marketing materials 

nor the obligation to cooperate constituted the provision of services such as would defeat the 

characterization of the payment as a royalty. The right to approve marketing materials simply 

helped Sierra Club protect its valuable intellectual property. The obligation to cooperate did not 

constitute an impermissible endorsement of the card issuer beyond that which necessarily results 

from licensing a name, logo, etc. Therefore, the court held that the income Sierra Club received 

in connection with the affinity arrangement was excludable from Sierra Club’s unrelated 

business taxable income. 

Courts have taken a similar approach to income from the rental of an exempt 

organization’s mailing list. For example, in Oregon State University Alumni Association, Inc. v. 

Commissioner,

357 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that income from 

mailing list rentals constituted a royalty even where the exempt organization that owned and 

licensed the list provided some clerical services and engaged in some promotional activity with 

regard to the arrangement. 

Notwithstanding the holdings in the above-described affinity credit card and mailing list 

rental cases, a taxpayer that provides more than a small amount of clerical services may risk 

having payments received in exchange for a license classified as payments for services rather 

than as excludable royalties. 

Travel tours

A number of exempt organizations, including colleges and universities, offer travel tours 

that are promoted as educational. The IRS takes the position that travel tours of a more social or 

recreational nature are not substantially related to an organization’s exempt educational purpose, 

and the income from such tours is unrelated business taxable income. Where a travel tour is 

truly educational, however, it may be related to an organization’s exempt purposes.358 The 

determination whether a particular travel tour is sufficiently educational to be considered 

substantially related to an organization exempt purposes is not always easy and thus has been the 

source of considerable controversy. In February 2000, the IRS issued final regulations that 

 356 65 T.C.M. (CCH) 2582 (1993). 

357 193 F.3d 1098 (9th Cir. 1999). 

358 Rev. Rul. 70-534, 1970-2 C.B. 113. 
109

provide several examples in an effort to demonstrate when travel tours are educational, and thus 

related, and when they are not.359 

 359 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.513-7. 
110

F. Related Organization Structures Involving Exempt Organizations 

In general

An exempt organization may be affiliated with other organizations or entities, some 

exempt and some taxable. Thus, as is the case with taxable for-profit corporations, an exempt 

organization might be a parent of one or more incorporated organizations (e.g., an exempt parent 

of a health care system or educational system containing multiple entities), a subsidiary of 

another exempt organization (e.g., an exempt social welfare organization whose sole member is 

an exempt charity), or an organization that is under the common control of another exempt 

organization (e.g., a supporting organization of a public charity or two organizations with a 

brother-sister relationship).360 In general, an exempt organization will be treated as separate 

from its related corporations as long as the purposes for which the related entity was formed are 

carried out in its activities.361 An exempt organization also may participate in or be related to, 

through ownership or control, unincorporated entities, such as partnerships or limited liability 

companies. A leading commentator has stated that “[o]ne of the most important developments 

involving tax-exempt organizations in the modern era is the use of related organizations.”362

Related organization structures involving exempt organizations may serve a variety of 

purposes. Separate entities often are used by exempt organizations: (1) to isolate potential State 

law liability (tort, contract, or other) in a separate entity; (2) to isolate actual or potential income 

tax attributes (e.g., unrelated business income) in a separate entity;363 (3) to conduct for-profit or 

dissimilar nonprofit activities in a separate entity for management, administrative, reporting, or 

other reasons; (4) to participate in an investment; or (5) because State or Federal law, or a third 

party such as a lender, might require or encourage the use of a separate State law or tax entity for 

the particular type of arrangement. 

 360 For a discussion of exempt organizations in various inter-organizational structures and 

operational forms, see Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, Part 6 - InterOrganizational Structures and Operational Forms (8th ed. 2003). 

361 Moline Properties v. Commissioner, 319 U.S. 436 (1943) (involving a corporate subsidiary). 

If a parent organization controls the business and affairs of a subsidiary to such an extent that the 

subsidiary is merely an extension of the parent, however, the subsidiary will not be respected as a separate 

entity. E.g., Gen. Couns. Mem. 33912 (August 15, 1968); Gen. Couns. Mem. 35719 (March 11, 1974); 

Gen. Couns. Mem. 39326 (August 31, 1984). Considerations include the amount of control the parent has 

over the subsidiary’s day-to-day operations, the business purpose for the arrangement, and the degree of 

overlap of officers and directors of the two organizations. If the separateness of the entities is not 

respected for Federal income tax purposes, the subsidiary’s activities will be treated as those of the parent 

organization for such tax purposes. 

362 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, Part 6 - Inter-Organizational 

Structures and Operational Forms 933 (8th ed. 2003). 

363 E.g., Priv. Ltr. Rul. 199938041 (June 28, 1999) (exempt organization formed subsidiary to 

conduct various unrelated trade or business activities). 
111

A related organization structure may include two or more organizations and involve an 

exempt organization that owns the entire interest of a subsidiary, an exempt organization that coowns a subsidiary or affiliate with other exempt organizations, individuals, or for-profit entities, 

or a combination of such arrangements. Charities and certain other types of exempt 

organizations may not be owned by private interests, but generally may be a subsidiary of 

another organization if the parent organization also is a charitable organization or is a similar 

type of tax-exempt organization (e.g., a social welfare organization may be a subsidiary of 

another social welfare organization).364

Affiliations between an exempt organization and other persons or entities have both State 

law and tax law implications. In general, State law determines the rights and obligations of the 

parties to the relationship, both among themselves (e.g., the governance and financial rights of 

the participants) and with respect to others who are not parties to the relationship (e.g., a creditor, 

customer, or supplier). Federal tax law determines how the affiliation and the participating 

parties will be treated for Federal income tax purposes. Not every State law entity is a separate 

entity for Federal income tax purposes. Also, an entity may be formed for Federal income tax 

purposes even if a separate legal entity is not created under State law (e.g., a contractual 

arrangement or joint operating agreement that provides for the sharing of profits or losses rather 

than merely a cost sharing arrangement among the parties to the arrangement).365

State law entities include corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), and 

partnerships (including general and limited partnerships).366 Under most State laws, a 

corporation or limited liability company may be formed with one shareholder or member, or with 

 364 Organizations described in sections 501(c)(3), (c)(4), (c)(6), (c)(7), (c)(9), (c)(11), (c)(13), 

(c)(19), and (c)(26), are subject to a private inurement prohibition that generally prohibits private persons 

from owning an equity interest in the net earnings of the exempt organization. 

365 E.g., Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9609012 (March 1, 1996) (joint operating agreement among three 

charitable organizations relating to the operation but not ownership of hospital facilities of each created a 

partnership under section 7701(a)(1) at the time the agreement was executed; agreement provided for 

financial integration of the separate organization’s facilities through annual payments based on adjusted 

cash flows). Such contractual arrangements, however, also may be regarded as general partnerships 

under certain State laws. 

366 In some States, additional types of partnerships are possible. For example, some States 

provide for limited liability partnerships, which generally are partnerships formed under a general 

partnership statute for which the partners make an election and register with the State to have the limited 

liability shield apply to the general partners. Limited liability partnerships permit partners to retain the 

management and governance provisions applicable to general partnerships while obtaining limited 

liability protection, and frequently are used in professional partnership settings (e.g., a law or public 

accounting partnership). In addition, some States provide for limited liability limited partnerships, which 

generally are limited partnerships for which an election is made to have the limited liability shield also 

apply to the partnership’s general partners. Limited liability limited partnerships generally possess the 

management and governance characteristics of limited partnerships (i.e., management by general partners 

rather than by limited partners), and might be used when passive investors intend that management be 

vested in one or a select few of the partners. 
112

multiple owners. A partnership formed under State law requires two or more partners. Most 

State laws also provide for the formation of nonprofit corporations that permit the conduct of an 

activity other than for profit.367

Under Federal income tax laws, business entities generally are treated as partnerships, 

corporations, associations taxable as corporations, or disregarded entities.368 In many cases, the 

status of an entity for State law purposes is not determinative of the entity’s status for Federal 

income tax purposes. For example, a State law partnership or multiple-member limited liability 

company may be taxed either as a partnership or a corporation, generally at the election of the 

partners or members.369

Wholly-owned subsidiaries of exempt organizations

In general

Organizations that are wholly owned or controlled by an exempt organization generally 

take the form of a nonprofit tax-exempt organization, a for-profit corporation, or a single 

member limited liability company. General Federal income tax considerations that pertain to 

such structures include: (1) whether the subsidiary will be treated as a separate taxable entity 

(two potential levels of tax) or as a part of the exempt parent organization (one potential level of 

tax); (2) if the subsidiary is treated as separate from the parent for Federal income tax purposes, 

whether the subsidiary may qualify for exempt status or treatment as a pass-through entity; (3) 

whether certain of the payments from the subsidiary to the parent are subject to the controlledentity rules of section 512(b)(13); and (4) the allocation of shared expenses (e.g., shared facilities 

or personnel) between the organizations and across exempt, investment, and unrelated trade or 

business activities. 

 367 Some States also permit the formation of business trusts, which have characteristics similar to 

business corporations. 

368 Treas. Reg. secs. 301.7701-1 through 301.7701-4. Under certain circumstances, an 

arrangement may constitute a trust for Federal income tax purposes. Treas. Reg. sec. 301.7701-4 (e.g., 

fixed investment trusts treated as grantor trusts). A disregarded entity generally is a single member 

limited liability company for which the sole member has elected not to treat the company as a corporation 

for Federal income tax purposes. Treas. Reg. secs. 301.7701-1(a)(4), -2(c), and -3(a). Another type of 

disregarded entity is a qualified subchapter S subsidiary (QSUB), which is a corporation wholly owned 

by an S corporation and for which an election is made to treat the subsidiary as a part of the parent for 

Federal income tax purposes. Sec. 1361(b)(3). A disregarded entity is not permitted or required to file a 

separate Federal income tax return. 

369 In most cases, however, an entity that is a corporation under State law is treated as a 

corporation for Federal income tax purposes (i.e., may not be taxed as a partnership or treated as a 

disregarded entity), or under other special provisions (e.g., as a bank or insurance company). Treas. Reg. 

sec. 301.7701-2(b). 
113

Exempt corporate subsidiaries

An exempt organization may form a nonprofit corporation of which it is the sole member 

or stockholder, and seek exempt status for the subsidiary. A tax-exempt subsidiary might be 

used because the subsidiary might not be entitled to the same exempt status as the parent (e.g., a 

charity might form a social welfare organization described in section 501(c)(4) to conduct 

lobbying activities that could not be performed by the charity under the lobbying rules applicable 

to the charity), or for business reasons, such as to isolate the liability of an activity in the 

subsidiary. 

In general, a separate organization such as a nonprofit subsidiary of an exempt 

organization must derive its exemption on the basis of its own activities. It is possible, however, 

for an organization to derive its tax exemption by reason of its relationship with a tax-exempt 

affiliate or affiliates, under the integral part doctrine.370 This doctrine may apply if an 

organization functions as an integral part of the exempt activities of one or more exempt 

affiliates. Traditionally, the integral part doctrine has applied if the activities of the organization 

seeking exemption are carried on under the supervision or control of an exempt organization and 

could be carried on by such supervising or controlling organization without materially 

constituting an unrelated trade or business.371 Organizations that derive their exempt status in 

this manner are treated as separate tax entities from the supervising or controlling affiliates.372

In limited cases, a single member LLC might seek status as an organization exempt from 

Federal income tax. The IRS has provided guidance that permits a single member limited 

liability company to seek exemption from Federal income tax, such as an organization described 

in section 501(c)(3), in limited circumstances.373

Taxable corporate subsidiaries

Taxable corporate subsidiaries often are used by an exempt organization to conduct 

unrelated trade or business activities that cause State law liability or unrelated business income 

tax concerns to the exempt organization.374 Although an exempt organization generally may 

 370 In limited circumstances, an exempt organization may derive its exempt status by virtue of its 

relationship with another exempt organization. For example, a group exemption may permit the 

subordinate members of a group of organizations to be treated as exempt without each subordinate having 

to seek a separate determination from the IRS. 

371 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 23.8 (8th ed. 2003). 

372 Id. 

373 See Richard A. McCray and Ward L. Thomas, Limited Liability Companies as Exempt 

Organizations – Update, 2001 Exempt Organizations CPE Text, 27-33. 

374 The formation and capitalization of a corporation by an exempt organization generally is 

governed by the general rules regarding contributions of property by a controlling shareholder. Secs. 

351-362 (generally providing tax-free treatment for the transferor and the transferee in the case of a 
114

conduct unrelated trade or business activities without jeopardizing its exempt status, an 

organization’s exempt status may be revoked if its unrelated trade or business activities become 

substantial relative to its exempt activities. Conducting an unrelated trade or business in a 

corporate subsidiary, rather than in the exempt parent, might provide protection against the 

potential loss of the parent’s exempt status that could result from the parent directly conducting 

excessive unrelated trade or business activities.375

Provided that a corporate subsidiary is respected as a separate C corporation for Federal 

income tax purposes, the tax-exempt parent organization generally is not taxed on the 

subsidiary’s income, even if ultimately distributed to the exempt parent as a dividend.376 Capital 

gains on the disposition of the C corporation’s stock generally are excluded from an exempt 

organization’s unrelated business taxable income.377 However, dividends and capital gains 

might be treated as unrelated business taxable income under the debt-financed property rules.378 

Further, other types of payments received by an exempt organization from a subsidiary 

corporation that otherwise might be excluded from unrelated business taxable income (i.e., 

interest, annuities, royalties, and rents) may be taxed as unrelated business taxable income to an 

exempt parent under the controlled-entity rules of section 512(b)(13).379

An S corporation generally does not pay an entity level tax, and its shareholders are taxed 

on their respective shares of the corporation’s income, whether or not distributed. Distributions 

of income already taxed to the shareholder are not taxed a second time when distributed. Special 

unrelated business income rules apply to exempt organizations that are shareholders of an S 

corporation.380 Prior to 1998, exempt organizations were not permitted to be shareholders of an 

S corporation. After 1997, charitable organizations and qualified plans or trusts (but not other 

types of exempt organizations) may own stock in an S corporation,381 but the organization’s 

share of all items of income, loss, or deduction of the S corporation, and any gain or loss 

 

transfer of property as capital by a shareholder who controls the corporation immediately after the 

transfer). 

375 This protection is not available if the exempt organization conducts the trade or business in a 

partnership of which it is a partner, because the partnership’s trade or business activities are treated as 

conducted by the tax-exempt parent for purposes of determining the exempt organization’s unrelated 

trade or business income tax liability. Sec. 512(c). 

376 Sec. 512(b)(1). The controlled-entity rules of section 512(b)(13) do not apply to dividends. 

377 Sec. 512(b)(5). 

378 Sec. 514. 

379 For this purpose, a controlled entity generally is one that is more than 50-percent owned, 

directly or indirectly, by the exempt organization. 

380 Sec. 512(e). 

381 Secs. 1361(c)(6) and 1361(b)(1)(B). 
115

attributable to the disposition of the stock of the S corporation, are taken into account in 

computing the unrelated business taxable income of the exempt organization (regardless of the 

character or nature of the income in the hands of the S corporation).382

Wholly-owned limited liability companies

A single member limited liability company of which an exempt organization is the sole 

member may be treated as a taxable corporation or as a disregarded entity, at the election of the 

exempt organization. If the exempt organization elects to treat the limited liability company as a 

corporation, the limited liability company will be taxed as a corporation, subject to treatment as a 

C or S corporation.383 In such a case, the rules described above for corporate subsidiaries apply 

to the exempt organization and the limited liability company. If the exempt organization does 

not elect to treat the single member limited liability company as a corporation, the limited 

liability company is disregarded and treated as a branch or division of the exempt organization, 

and the assets, liabilities, income, gains, losses, deductions, and credits of the limited liability 

company are treated as belonging to the tax-exempt parent for Federal income tax purposes. A 

disregarded single-member limited liability company need not request a determination from the 

IRS that it is to be treated as a part of the exempt organization in such cases.384

Exempt organizations and joint ventures

In general

Joint ventures are growing in use among charitable and other organizations that are 

exempt from Federal income tax. As a leading commentator has said: “Joint ventures continue 

to play an increasingly important role for exempt organizations faced with the challenge of 

operating in a difficult economic environment. They offer a way for nonprofits to successfully 

shape their own destiny, rather than accept the priorities of public and private funders. . . . These 

arrangements, assuming they are structured properly, provide an alternative, viable way for 

exempt organizations to accomplish their missions, eliminating the need for total reliance on the 

more traditional sources of funding.”385 Joint ventures might be used by an exempt organization 

to hold a passive investment, to conduct an activity that furthers an exempt purpose, or to 

 382 Secs. 1361(c)(6) and 512(e). 

383 As described above, in limited circumstances a single member limited liability company 

might be entitled to exempt status independent of the exempt status of the sole member. 

384 A single member limited liability company formed by an exempt organization generally is 

disregarded unless a Form 8332, Entity Classification Election, is filed with the IRS to elect to treat the 

limited liability company as a corporation. 

385 Michael I. Sanders, Joint Ventures Involving Tax-Exempt Organizations, Supplement at ix (2d 

ed. 2000 and Supp. 2004). 
116

conduct an unrelated trade or business. In some cases, a joint venture might be formed to 

conduct a dual purpose activity that achieves both commercial and exempt purpose objectives.386 

Joint ventures between charitable or educational organizations and for-profit investors are 

used in low-income housing projects, health care delivery arrangements (such as hospitals, 

diagnostic testing centers, rehabilitation facilities, and ambulatory surgery centers), 

redevelopment of urban areas (including through the new markets tax credit), and to develop 

research and educational technologies and systems.387 Although much of the growth and 

development in this area has involved health care organizations, joint ventures increasingly are 

used by others, such as by universities to provide distance learning over the Internet or to 

affiliate with faculty members in research joint ventures. A public charity may form and use a 

supporting organization (as described in section 509(a)(3)) to participate in a joint venture, or a 

social welfare organization described in section 501(c)(4) might be used in such arrangements if 

tax exemption is desired for one of the participating entities but such entity is unable or unwilling 

to satisfy the more stringent requirements of section 501(c)(3).388 Other types of exempt 

organizations also use joint ventures. For example, business leagues described in section 

501(c)(6) use joint ventures to operate real estate ventures, professional football leagues, and 

computer databases, and to facilitate the sale of broadcasting rights.389 

Exempt organizations may come together to form corporate or partnership joint ventures. 

For example, certain types of exempt organizations may form a multiple-owner title holding 

corporation or trust for which exempt status is available.390 Exempt organizations might enter 

into joint operating agreements or other types of contractual arrangements with other exempt 

organizations, pursuant to which each exempt organization agrees to make certain of its assets 

(e.g., intellectual property or physical facilities) available for use by the parties to the agreement 

under the specified terms of the arrangement.391 Exempt organizations also might use corporate 

or partnership entities to conduct the venture. 

 386 E.g., Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200041038 (October 13, 2000) (involving conservation organization’s 

participation in a limited liability company formed to manage the timber rights of for-profit owners, to 

preserve working forests and to generate income from cutting activity in such forests). 

387 Sanders at 4-8. For a discussion of joint ventures in the new markets tax credit area, see id., 

2004 Cumulative Supplement, at 158-71. 

388 For example, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) often obtain exempt status under 

section 501(c)(4) rather than under section 501(c)(3) because of private benefit concerns and the difficulty 

in satisfying the charitable purpose requirement of section 501(c)(3). 

389 Sanders at 479. 

390 Sec. 501(c)(25). Multiple-owner title holding corporations or trusts generally are subject to 

more stringent requirements than single owner title holding corporations described in section 501(c)(2). 

The IRS reported 1,259 such title holding corporations or trusts on the IRS master file for 2003. 

391 E.g., Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9609012 (March 1, 1996) (hospital facilities); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9716021 

(April 18, 1997) (health care facilities); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200245057 (November 8, 2002) (health care and 
117

The term “joint venture” has different meanings in different contexts, but the term 

generally encompasses a variety of arrangements between or among two or more exempt 

organizations, or between or among an exempt organization and persons or entities who are not 

exempt from tax (e.g., for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships).392 

Tax consequences of a joint venture

Under present law, a joint venture must be examined to determine whether (1) the 

charity’s income derived from the venture is taxed as unrelated business taxable income; (2) the 

charity receives fair market value in connection with all aspects of the venture; (3) the joint 

venture furthers a charitable purpose; and (4) the arrangement does not provide an impermissible 

private benefit to any private persons, including exempt organization insiders and others who 

participate in the joint venture.393 The IRS and the courts recently have emphasized the extent to 

which the charity may and does control the activities of the joint venture, particularly with 

respect to the charitable aspects and day-to-day operations of the venture, when examining 

whether the joint venture jeopardizes the exempt status of the participating charity, or causes the 

charity’s share of the income from the venture to be taxed as unrelated business taxable income. 

Other important facts and circumstances include the type of State law entity (if any) used for the 

joint venture, the activities to be conducted, the size of the joint venture’s activities compared to 

 

clinical facilities); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200305031 (January 31, 2003) (health care facilities); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 

200324047 (June 13, 2003) (hospital facilities financed by tax-exempt bonds). 

392 One commentator defines a joint venture as “an association of persons or entities jointly 

undertaking a particular transaction for mutual profit,” and divides joint ventures into four categories: 

those involving only exempt organizations (exempt-only joint ventures), those entered as passive 

investments (investment-type joint ventures), those that represent a small proportion of the assets of the 

exempt organization (ancillary joint ventures), and those to which the exempt organization devotes all or 

substantially all of its assets (disposition-type joint ventures). Sanders at 2 and Cumulative Supplement 

44-46; Michael I. Sanders, How to Structure Joint Ventures Involving Charities in Today’s Climate, 14 

Taxation of Exempts 3 (July/August 2002). 

393 Under the section 4958 excess benefit transaction rules, a public charity or social welfare 

organization must receive fair market value upon the transfer of property to a joint venture, during the 

term of the joint venture, and upon liquidation of the joint venture, if the joint venture or another 

participant in the joint venture is a disqualified person with respect to the charitable, educational, or social 

welfare organization. For example, if a charitable organization enters into a partnership arrangement with 

one or more members of its board of directors, then the charitable organization must receive a partnership 

interest that has a fair market value that equals or exceeds the value of the property the organization 

transferred to the partnership in exchange for the partnership interest. If the fair market value of the 

interest received is less than the value of the property transferred by the charitable organization, the 

transaction constitutes an excess benefit transaction subject to the excise taxes imposed by section 4958. 

The excess benefit transaction tax rules apply to compensation paid to a disqualified person of a public 

charity whether the compensation is paid directly by the charity or indirectly by a subsidiary controlled by 

the charity. 
118

the exempt organization’s other activities, and whether the exempt organization receives fair 

market value in exchange for its financial and other contributions to the venture.394

In general, joint ventures among exempt organizations of a similar type do not raise the 

same concerns that exist if for-profit entities or individuals also are parties to the arrangement.395 

For example, a partnership joint venture consisting of two charitable organizations that come 

together to conduct an exempt activity generally are free to do so without regard to the private 

benefit and private inurement doctrines that apply when an individual or entity other than a 

charity is a party to the arrangement. This might provide the charitable organizations some 

increased flexibility in structuring their respective financial and governance rights, because only 

charities are involved in the joint venture and thus will necessarily control the venture. 

However, a charity generally is required to treat non-charitable exempt organizations (e.g., a 

social welfare organization described in section 501(c)(4)) in the same manner as a for-profit 

organization for these purposes, in order to ensure that charitable purposes are served and that 

charitable assets remain dedicated to charitable purposes. 

An exempt organization that owns some but not all of the stock of a for-profit corporation 

generally is not taxed on the activities of the corporate joint venture, and generally excludes the 

dividends and capital gains relating to the investment from unrelated business taxable income 

under the generally applicable unrelated business income tax rules. The provisions of section 

512(b)(13) apply if the exempt organization owns (directly or indirectly) more than 50-percent of 

the corporate joint venture. 

If a joint venture is a partnership in which an exempt organization is a partner, the 

exempt organization’s distributive share of the partnership’s income or loss is treated as if the 

partnership directly conducted the activity that generated the income or loss. If a trade or 

business regularly carried on by the partnership is an unrelated trade or business with respect to 

the exempt organization, then the exempt organization must treat its share (whether or not 

distributed) of the income from the unrelated trade or business as unrelated business taxable 

income.396 In addition, the controlled-entity rules of section 512(b)(13) apply to a partnership 

that is more than 50-percent owned (directly or indirectly) by an exempt organization.397

 394 In addition, special considerations apply if the exempt organization is a private foundation. 

Such an organization is subject to the self-dealing, net investment income, excess business holdings, 

jeopardized investments, and taxable expenditure provisions of sections 4941 through 4945. 

395 See, e.g., Priv. Ltr. Rul. 199913035 (April 12, 1999); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 199913051 (April 12, 

1999); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200102052 (January 12, 2001); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200102053 (January 12, 2001); Priv. 

Ltr. Rul. 200117043 (April 27, 2001); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200325003 (June 20, 2003); and Priv. Ltr. Rul. 

200325004 (June 20, 2003) (involving joint ventures among exempt organizations). 

396 Sec. 512(c)(1). 

397 Sec. 512(b)(13)(D)(ii). 
119

Evolution of legal standards

The Federal income tax law regarding joint ventures involving exempt organizations has 

changed slowly but significantly over the past 30 years. During this period the IRS position 

regarding participation by charitable organizations in such ventures has changed from one that 

prohibited certain types of participation by the organization to one that acknowledges that 

charities may participate in joint ventures if they satisfy certain requirements. 

Before 1982, the IRS took the position that a charitable organization could not participate 

as a general partner in a limited partnership that involved for-profit limited partners because the 

exempt organization would have a fiduciary duty to further the private economic interests of the 

for-profit limited partners. The IRS was concerned that this duty would conflict with the exempt 

organization’s mission to operate exclusively for charitable purposes.398 The standard changed 

after Plumstead Theatre Society v. Commissioner.

399 In Plumstead, the court held that a 

charitable organization could serve as a general partner in a limited partnership that included forprofit limited partners without losing its exempt status. Crucial to the court was whether: (1) the 

partnership’s activities furthered the charitable purposes of the exempt organization, and (2) the 

structure of the partnership protected the exempt organization against potential conflicts between 

its fiduciary duties to its for-profit partners and its charitable mission. Subsequently, a court held 

that an exempt organization’s activities as a co-general partner in a limited partnership 

substantially furthered non-exempt purposes when the exempt organization’s authority as a cogeneral partner was limited and the other co-general partner (a taxable organization) was in a 

position of control.400 

In 1998, the IRS issued guidance regarding its position on the effect a particular type of 

transaction, a “whole-hospital” joint venture, had on the exempt status of the participating 

charitable organization. Revenue Ruling 98-15401 used two examples, both involving a public 

charity that contributed all of its assets to a limited liability company in exchange for a 

 398 See Gen. Couns. Mem. 36293 (May 30, 1975) (joint profit motive of partnership made it 

incompatible with charitable purpose of the exempt entity); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 7820058 (February 17, 1978) 

(participation by a charitable organization as a general partner in a partnership with private investors as 

limited partners conveyed impermissible private benefit, even though venture was formed to provide lowincome housing). 

399 Plumstead Theatre Society, Inc. v. Commissioner, 74 T.C. 1324 (1980), aff’d, 675 F.2d 244 

(9th Cir. 1982). 

400 Housing Pioneers, Inc. v. Commissioner, 65 T.C.M. (CCH) 2191, aff’d 49 F.3d 1395 (9th Cir. 

1995) (denying exempt status on the basis that the exempt organization substantially furthered nonexempt purposes and private interests). Compare Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9736039 (September 5, 1997) (ruling 

that a charitable organization’s participation as a co-general partner in a limited partnership did not 

adversely affect its exempt status because the organization was the managing general partner with 

responsibility for day-to-day operations and with authority to cause the project to be managed in a manner 

that furthered its exempt purposes). 

401 Rev. Rul. 98-15, 1998-1 C.B. 718. 
120

membership interest in the limited liability company, and a for-profit corporation that 

contributed assets to the limited liability company in exchange for a membership interest that 

was proportionate to its financial contribution. Facts in the two examples differed with respect to 

the terms of the management agreement and the respective rights of the charity and the for-profit 

relating to board governance, approval of major decisions, and the provision of charity care by 

the joint venture. In one example, the charity had 60 percent of the board membership, 

controlled approval of major decisions, and could terminate the management agreement between 

the joint venture and an unrelated management company. The joint venture agreement also 

required that the hospital operate in a manner that furthered charitable purposes. The IRS ruled 

that the exempt organization in this example did not jeopardize its exempt status by participating 

in the joint venture. In the other example, the charity possessed only 50 percent of the board 

control, held only a veto right with respect to approval of major decisions, and could not 

terminate the management agreement between the joint venture and a service provider that was 

related to the for-profit participant. In addition, in this example, there was no express 

requirement that the hospital operate to further charitable purposes, and the officers responsible 

for oversight of day-to-day operations of the joint venture were individuals who previously were 

employed by the for-profit member. The IRS ruled that the activities of the joint venture in the 

latter example did not further the exempt purposes of the charity, and that the organization would 

not remain tax-exempt. 

The control standard established in Plumstead Theatre and developed further in Revenue 

Ruling 98-15 and private letter rulings402 was the focal point of two recently litigated cases 

involving exempt organizations and for-profit investors in health care joint ventures.403 

Redlands and St. David’s both focused on the extent of the exempt organization’s control over 

the venture’s activities in determining whether exempt status of the tax-exempt partner was 

retained or denied. 

In 2004, the IRS issued a Revenue Ruling404 to provide guidance regarding ancillary joint 

ventures (i.e., joint ventures in which the participating exempt organization did not contribute all 

 402 See, e.g., Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200118054 (May 4, 2001) (exempt organization retained 70 percent 

ownership and control); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200206058 (February 8, 2002) (ruling that a public charity that 

transferred three percent of its assets to a limited liability company in exchange for a 60 percent 

membership interest therein did not jeopardize its exempt status even though the other membership 

interests were held by individual physicians); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200304041 (January 24, 2003) (exempt 

organization maintained majority control); Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200304042 (January 24, 2003) (exempt 

organization maintained majority control). 

403 Redlands Surgical Services v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 47 (1999), aff’d 242 F.3d 904 (9th Cir. 

2001) (nonprofit subsidiary of a tax-exempt hospital system failed to retain control of a joint venture 

ambulatory surgery center); St. David’s Health Care System v. United States, No. A-01-CA-046 JN 

(W.D. Texas) (June 7, 2002), vacated by 349 F.3d 232 (5th Cir. 2003) (exempt organization did retain 

sufficient effective control of the venture). On remand, a jury in the St. David’s case found that St. 

David’s was entitled to exempt status. 

404 Rev. Rul. 2004-51, 2004-22 I.R.B. 974. 
121

or substantially all of its assets). In the ruling, a university described in section 501(c)(3) formed 

a limited liability company and transferred a small portion of its assets to the limited liability 

company in exchange for a 50-percent membership interest. A for-profit corporation contributed 

interactive video assets to the limited liability company in exchange for a 50-percent 

membership interest. The limited liability company’s exclusive purpose was to provide teacher 

training programs to various locations using interactive video technology provided by the forprofit member. Both the exempt university and the for-profit member held equal ownership 

interests and representation on the limited liability company’s board of directors, and all 

financial rights were shared equally. The training programs to be conducted by the joint venture 

contained the same substantive material that was provided at the university’s on-campus 

seminars. The university possessed the right to determine and approve the curriculum, training 

materials, instructors, and educational standards of the programs. The for-profit possessed the 

right to select the technical employees and the locations at which the programs would be 

conducted. Other decisions were to be made by both members. The limited liability company’s 

activities were limited to those connected with the training programs, and the company could not 

engage in an activity that jeopardized the exempt status of the university. On these facts, the IRS 

determined that the educational organization’s participation in the ancillary joint venture did not 

jeopardize the exempt status of the university. Further, the IRS determined that the university’s 

share of income derived by the joint venture from the training programs did not constitute 

unrelated business taxable income to the university.405

 405 For an analysis of the revenue ruling, see Michael I. Sanders, The Impact of Rev. Rul. 2004-51 

on Ancillary Joint Ventures, Taxation of Exempts (November/December 2004), 99. See also, Paul 

Streckfus, Ancillary Joint Ventures May Involve Exemption Risk, Tax Notes Today (February 1, 2005); 

Practitioners Pleased With Revenue Ruling on Ancillary Joint Ventures, Tax Notes Today (May 7, 2004). 
122

III. SPECIFIC TYPES OF CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND 

EVOLVING STANDARDS OF CHARITY 

A. Overview 

As discussed above, the meaning of charitable has evolved during the course of the 20th

century. Charitable is an expansive concept,406 bestowing exempt status on a wide range of 

organizations and activities. Certain charitable organizations are more notable than others, if 

only because they fit within relatively discreet categories, form a large part of the sector, are 

identified with a specific purpose, or are of longstanding origin. Within categories of charitable 

organizations, the meaning of charity proves to be fluid, and malleable enough to account for 

changes in society, yet also unrestrained due to the many sources of meaningful authority that 

inform its content -- whether it be Congress, the IRS, the courts, or society. The following 

descriptions are of different categories of charitable organizations, including hospitals, elder care 

facilities, credit counseling organizations, low-income housing organizations, environmental 

organizations, and college sports organizations. All are recognized as charitable organizations 

under section 501(c)(3) of the Code, and all are subject to the same organizational and 

operational restrictions despite their very different natures and activities. 

 406 The word “charitable” generally is used in this pamphlet to include any of the purposes 

described in section 501(c)(3), e.g., religious, educational, scientific, and other. 
123

B. Charitable Hospitals 

In general

The Code does not provide a per se charitable exemption for hospitals. Rather, a hospital 

qualifies for exemption if it is organized and operated for a charitable purpose and meets 

additional requirements of section 501(c)(3).407 The promotion of health has long been 

recognized as a charitable purpose that is beneficial to the community as a whole.408 It includes 

not only the establishment or maintenance of charitable hospitals, but clinics, homes for the 

aged, and other providers of health care. However, not every activity that promotes health 

qualifies for tax exemption under section 501(c)(3).409 For example, selling prescription 

pharmaceuticals promotes health, but pharmacies cannot qualify as charitable on that basis 

alone.410 Furthermore, an organization providing health care, such as a hospital, is not a 

charitable organization if it is privately owned and is run for the profit of the owners.411 The 

standard the IRS and the courts apply to determine whether a hospital promotes health in a 

charitable manner has evolved in response to significant changes in the health-care industry. 

Medical care generally is provided by government-owned, for-profit, and tax-exempt 

organizations. In the hospital sector, tax-exempt organizations dominate, with approximately 60 

percent of the nation’s hospitals operating as charitable institutions.412 Historically, charitable 

hospitals were characterized as voluntary because they generally were supported by 

 407 Although nonprofit hospitals generally are recognized as tax-exempt by virtue of being 

“charitable” organizations, some may qualify for exemption as educational organizations because they are 

organized and operated primarily for medical education and research purposes. 

408 Rev. Rul. 69-545, 1969-2 C.B. 117; see also Restatement (Second) of Trusts sec. 368, 372 

(1959); see Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 33.3(b) (8th ed. 2003) 

(discussing various forms of health-care providers that may qualify for exemption under section 

501(c)(3)). 

409 See Sonora Community Hospital v. Commissioner, 46 T.C. 519, 525-526 (1966), aff’d 397 

F.2d 814 (9th Cir. 1968) (while the diagnosis and cure of disease are indeed purposes that may furnish the 

foundation for characterizing the activity as “charitable,” something more is required.). 

410 Federation Pharmacy Services, Inc. v. Commissioner, 72 T.C. 687 (1979) (finding that 

organization relied financially on the sale of prescription drugs to the public with no accommodation 

made for those unable to pay and, thus, did not have a charitable purpose) aff’d, 625 F.2d 804 (8th Cir. 

1980). 

411 Rev. Rul. 98-15, 1998-1 C.B. 718. 

412 Gary J. Young, Federal Tax-Exemption Requirements for Joint Ventures Between Nonprofit 

Hospital and For-Profit Entities: Form over Substance, 13 Annals of Health L. 327 (Summer 2004); see 

also GAO Report to the Chairman, Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, Nonprofit 

Hospitals: Better Standards Needed for Tax Exemption Tax Compliance of Nonwage Earners,

GAO/HRD-90-84, May 1990. 
124

philanthropy, staffed by doctors who worked without compensation, and served, almost 

exclusively, the sick poor.413 However, the character of the charitable hospital sector has 

changed significantly over the past several decades due to the growth of such resources as 

employer-provided health insurance and governmental programs such as Medicare (for the 

elderly and disabled) and Medicaid (for the poor).414 The availability of third-party payment 

programs also spurred the emergence of for-profit hospital systems, which increased competition 

for patients. Demands for managed care and other efforts by employers, insurers, and Federal 

and State governments to contain the rapid growth of health care costs have led to an 

increasingly cost-conscious hospital sector.415 These factors combined to transform the nature of 

the charitable sector so that today’s charitable hospitals generate most of their revenues by 

serving paying patients rather than from charitable contributions.416 In addition, charitable 

hospitals have increasingly entered into business arrangements similar to those employed by the 

for-profit sector in an effort to contain costs, improve efficiency, and generate surplus revenues. 

For example, mergers and consolidations, the formation of joint ventures with for-profit entities, 

and the creation of integrated delivery systems417 all have been common in the charitable 

hospital sector. 

Today, charitable hospitals generally provide medical and other health-related services in 

a manner similar to their for-profit counterparts. They operate under the same healthcare 

regulations, compete for the same patients and doctors, and derive funding from many of the 

 413 See Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Association v. Simon, 506 F.2d 1278, 1288-89 (D.C. 

Cir. 1974), vacated on other grounds 426 U.S. 26 (1975) (noting that hospitals in the early part of this 

nation’s history were almshouses supported by philanthropy and serving almost exclusively the sick 

poor); see also Utah County v. Intermountain Health Care, Inc., 709 P.2d 265 (Utah 1985) (holding that 

voluntary hospitals were charities for the obvious reason that they housed and tended to those who were 

both sick and poor, i.e., those without resources and in need of charity. Because hospitals performed no 

medical treatment function and because they were largely institutions for the poor, the non-poor in need 

of medical treatment and their treating private physicians overwhelmingly avoided them.). 

414 Mark A. Hall and John D. Colombo, The Charitable Status of Nonprofit Hospitals: Toward a 

Donative Theory of Tax Exemption, 66 Wash. L. Rev. 307 (April 1991). 

415 GAO Report to the Chairman, Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, 

Nonprofit Hospitals: Better Standards Needed for Tax Exemption Tax Compliance of Nonwage Earners,

GAO/HRD-90-84, May 1990, at 13-14. The GAO reported that cost-containment initiatives may make it 

more difficult for nonprofit hospitals to provide uncompensated care. 

416 Helena G. Rubinstein, Nonprofit Hospitals and the Federal Tax Exemption: A Fresh 

Prescription, 7 Health Matrix 381 (Summer 1997); see also Sound Health Assoc. v. Commissioner, 71 

T.C. 158, 180-81 (1978), acq. 1981-2 C.B. 2. 

417 Integrated delivery systems are combinations of nonprofit hospitals and private physician 

groups. These systems were originally created to enable nonprofits to enter the managed care business, a 

sector dominated by taxable insurance companies and by tax-exempt and taxable health-maintenance 

organizations. 
125

same sources as other types of hospitals.418 Federal tax exemption does not prevent charitable 

hospitals from generating surplus revenues, but unlike for-profit hospitals, the assets of a 

charitable hospital must remain in charitable trust for the benefit of the community, whereas the 

assets of a for-profit hospital are owned by private investors. 

Evolution of the legal standard

Promotion of Health as a Charitable Purpose

Financial Ability Standard.–Much like the nature of the health-care industry itself, the 

definition of the term charitable as applied to hospitals has not been static. In 1956, the IRS 

issued Revenue Ruling 56-185, which addressed the tax-exempt status of charitable hospitals.419 

The ruling adopted the “financial ability standard,” requiring that a charitable hospital be 

“operated to the extent of its financial ability for those not able to pay for the services rendered 

and not exclusively for those who are able and expected to pay.”420 This standard effectively 

meant that a charitable hospital could not refuse to accept patients in need of hospital care who 

could not pay for such services. However, the IRS acknowledged that hospitals normally charge 

patients who are able to pay for services in order to meet the hospital’s operating expenses and 

stated that the “fact that the hospital’s charity record is relatively low is not conclusive that a 

hospital is not operated for charitable purposes to the full extent of its financial ability.”421 

Although the ruling allowed hospitals to satisfy the charity requirement by furnishing services at 

reduced rates which are below cost, if a hospital operated with the expectation of full payment 

from all patients, the hospital would not be deemed to “dispense charity merely because some of 

its patients fail to pay for the services rendered.”422 The ruling’s requirement that charitable 

hospitals provide some amount of free or reduced-rate care reflected the view that hospitals and 

 418 Jill R. Horwitz, Why We Need the Independent Sector: The Behavior, Law, and Ethics of Notfor-Profit Hospitals, 50 UCLA L. Rev. 1345 (August 2003). Charitable hospitals also are generally 

exempt from State and local taxes, as well as Federal taxes. In addition, charitable hospitals benefit from 

access to tax-exempt financing. Charitable hospitals generally have been the largest borrowers of taxexempt bonds issued for section 501(c)(3) organizations. See Table 11, Part IV. 

419 Rev. Rul. 56-185, 1956-1 C.B. 202, modified by Rev. Rul. 69-545, 1969-2 C.B. 117. 

420 Id. The ruling also required an open staff provision, mandating that charitable hospitals not 

restrict use of their facilities to particular groups of physicians or surgeons, to the exclusion of other 

qualified physicians. Finally, the ruling provided that a charitable hospital’s net earnings must not inure 

directly or indirectly to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual; a requirement that repeated 

the statutory prohibition on private inurement and private benefit. 

421 Id.; see also Commissioner v. Battle Creek, Inc., 126 F.2d 405 (5th Cir. 1942) (noting that it is 

usual for charitable hospitals and sanitariums to charge those able to pay for services rendered, in order to 

pay the expenses of the institution, while not denying treatment to others unable to pay anything). 

422 Rev. Rul. 56-185, 1956-1 C.B. 202. 
126

other health care institutions were only charitable if they both provided relief to the poor and 

promoted health.423

Community Benefit Standard.–The financial ability standard governed charitable 

hospitals until 1969. Congress had criticized the financial ability standard as imprecise 

concerning the extent to which a hospital must accept patients who are unable to pay.424 In 

addition, the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 had a fundamental effect on hospitals; a 

substantial portion of the free care previously subsidized by charitable hospitals now was 

reimbursed through these governmental programs.425 In response to these developments, the IRS 

issued Revenue Ruling 69-545, modifying its position in Revenue Ruling 56-186 and adopting 

the “community benefit standard,”426 which remains the test applied by the IRS for determining 

whether a hospital is charitable. 

In Revenue Ruling 69-545, the IRS stated that the promotion of health care is “one of the 

purposes in the general law of charity that is deemed beneficial to the community as a whole 

even though the class of beneficiaries eligible to receive a direct benefit from its activities does 

not include all members of the community, such as indigent members, provided that the class is 

not so small that its relief is not of benefit to the community.”427 Applying this community 

benefit standard, the IRS found that a hospital’s operation of a generally accessible emergency 

room open to all persons, regardless of ability to pay, provided a benefit to a sufficiently broad 

class of persons in the community. The ruling did not, however, require that the hospital accept 

indigent patients on an inpatient basis for any purpose other than its emergency room. Revenue 

Ruling 69-545 also expressly removed the requirement that charitable hospitals provide care to 

patients without charge or at rates below cost.428

In addition to the open emergency room requirement, Revenue Ruling 69-545 set forth 

additional factors for determining whether a hospital qualifies as charitable, specifically whether 

the hospital: (1) is run by an independent board of trustees composed of representatives of the 

community (as opposed to financially interested individuals); (2) operates with an open medical 

staff policy, with privileges available to all qualified physicians; (3) provides care for all those 

persons in the community able to pay the cost thereof either directly or through third party 

 423 Geisinger Health Plan v. Commissioner, 985 F.2d 1210, 1216 (3d Cir. 1993). 

424 See H.R. Rep. No. 91-413, 91st Cong., 1st Sess., pt.1, at 43 (1969) (“Such obligations to serve 

those who cannot pay are indefinite under existing law and existing interpretations of the law.”). 

425 See Helena G. Rubinstein, Nonprofit Hospitals and the Federal Tax Exemption: A Fresh 

Prescription, 7 Health Matrix 381 (Summer 1997). 

426 Rev. Rul. 69-545, 1969-2 C.B. 117. 

427 Id. 

428 Id. 
127

reimbursement; and (4) utilizes surplus funds to improve the quality of patient care, expand its 

facilities, and advance medical training, education, and research.429

The validity of the community benefit standard enunciated in Revenue Ruling 69-545 

was challenged in a class action law suit by various health and welfare organizations and private 

citizens who argued that the IRS should continue to require charitable hospitals to provide free 

care to those unable to pay. In Eastern Kentucky Welfare Rights Organization v. Simon,

430 the 

district court sustained the challenge and concluded that Congress intended to restrict the term 

charitable to its narrow sense, that is, relief of the poor. The appeals court reversed, however, 

and upheld the broader interpretation of charitable applied in Revenue Ruling 69-545.431 The 

court explained that the term charitable is capable of a definition far broader than merely the 

relief of the poor.432 The court also concluded that Revenue Ruling 69-545 did not overrule the 

financial ability requirement of Revenue Ruling 56-185, but that it simply provided an 

alternative method whereby a hospital can qualify as a tax-exempt charitable organization.433

In a 1983 ruling, the IRS applied the community benefit standard in the context of a 

hospital that did not operate an emergency room but that otherwise was identical to the hospital 

described in Revenue Ruling 69-545.434 The IRS stated that a charitable hospital need not 

maintain an emergency room when State health planning authorities determine that doing so 

would produce unnecessary duplication of services otherwise provided in the community.435 The 

IRS ruled that the operation of an emergency room and community access to it is merely one 

factor evidencing a hospital’s benefit to the community. Other significant factors may enter into 

the community benefit determination, such as “a board of directors drawn from the community, 

an open medical staff policy, treatment of persons paying their bills with the aid of public 

programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and application of any surplus to improving facilities, 

equipment, patient care, and medical training, education, and research.”436 Finally, the IRS 

noted that certain specialized hospitals, such as eye hospitals and cancer hospitals, offer medical 

care limited to special conditions unlikely to necessitate emergency care and do not, as a 

practical matter, maintain emergency rooms. The IRS found that these organizations may also 

 429 Id. 

430 370 F. Supp. 325, 338 (D.D.C. 1973), rev’d 506 F.2d 1278 (D.C. Cir. 1974), vacated on other 

grounds, 426 U.S. 26 (1976). 

431 506 F.2d 1278 (D.C. Cir. 1974), vacated on other grounds, 426 U.S. 26 (1976). 

432 Id. at 1287-88. 

433 Id. at 1289. 

434 Rev. Rul. 83-157, 1983-2 C.B. 94. 

435 Id. 

436 Id. 
128

qualify as charitable if there are present similar, significant factors that demonstrate that the 

hospitals operate exclusively to benefit the community.437

In 1992, the IRS issued examination guidelines for use by IRS agents in the examination 

of charitable hospitals. Although the guidelines are not binding, they discuss factors the IRS 

considers in determining whether a hospital meets the community benefit standard. Some of the 

factors to be considered are: whether the hospital has a governing board that includes prominent 

civic leaders rather than primarily hospital administrators and doctors; whether the hospital 

provides non emergency care to everyone in the community who is able to pay either privately or 

through third parties including Medicare and Medicaid; whether admission to the hospital’s 

medical staff is open to all qualified physicians in the area, consistent with the size and nature of 

the facilities; and whether the hospital has a full-time emergency room open to everyone, 

regardless of their ability to pay.438

Community Benefit Standard applied to other Health Care Organizations.–The 

community benefit standard applies not only to traditional hospitals, but also other health care 

provider organizations, such as clinics or health maintenance organizations (HMOs). An HMO 

provides medical care to its subscribers through selected physicians, hospitals and other 

providers who are connected by contract or other arrangement with the HMO. Although HMOs 

provide health care, one of their major purposes is to serve their subscribers. In addition, HMO 

operations are similar to traditional health insurance.439 Thus, it was not clear whether such 

entities were organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes.440

In Sound Health Association v. Commissioner,

441 the Tax Court answered affirmatively 

in holding that a staff model HMO442 qualified as a charitable organization. The court, applying 

the community benefit analysis derived for hospitals, concluded that the HMO satisfied the 

community benefit standard as its membership was open to almost all members of the 

community. Although membership was limited to persons who had the money to pay the fixed 

premiums, the court held that this was not disqualifying as the HMO had a subsidized premium 

 437 Id. 

438 Announcement 92-83, 1992-22 I.R.B. 59 (IRS Audit Guidelines for Hospitals). 

439 Section 501(m) prohibits exemption for an organization that provides commercial-type 

insurance as a substantial part of its activities. An exception in section 501(m)(3)(B) states that this 

exclusion does not apply to an HMO providing health insurance that is merely incidental to the HMO’s 

principal activity of providing medical services. 

440 HMOs and other organizations that fail to qualify as charitable under section 501(c)(3) may 

nevertheless qualify for the more limited exemption under section 501(c)(4), which provides exemption 

for social welfare organizations. 

441 71 T.C. 158 (1978), acq. 1981-2 C.B. 2. 

442 A staff model HMO employs its own physicians and staff and serves its subscribers at its own 

facilities. 
129

program for persons of lesser means to be funded through donations and Medicare and Medicaid 

payments. The HMO also operated an emergency room open to all persons regardless of 

income. The court rejected the government’s contention that the HMO conferred primarily a 

private benefit to its subscribers, stating that when the potential membership is such a broad 

segment of the community, benefit to the membership is benefit to the community. 

In Geisinger Health Plan v. Commissioner,

443 the court applied the community benefit 

standard to an individual practice association (IPA) model HMO.444 Reversing a Tax Court 

decision, the court held that the HMO did not qualify as charitable because the community 

benefit standard requires that an HMO be an actual provider of health care rather than merely an 

arranger or deliverer of health care, which is how the court viewed the IPA model in that case. 

More recently, in IHC Health Plans, Inc. v. Commissioner,

445 the court ruled that three 

affiliated HMOs did not operate primarily for the benefit of the community they served. The 

organizations in the case did not provide health care directly, but provided group insurance that 

could be used at both affiliated and non-affiliated providers. The court found that the 

organizations primarily performed a risk-bearing function and provided virtually no free or 

below-cost health care services. In denying charitable status, the court held that a health-care 

provider must make its services available to all in the community plus provide additional 

community or public benefits.446 The benefit must either further the function of governmentfunded institutions or provide a service that would not likely be provided within the community 

but for the subsidy. Further, the additional public benefit conferred must be sufficient to give 

rise to a strong inference that the public benefit is the primary purpose for which the organization 

operates.447

Summary.–Since 1956, there have been two very different standards of charity for 

hospitals. Between 1956 and 1969, a charitable hospital was required to provide some care for 

the poor. In response to pressure from Congress and changes in the health care industry, the IRS 

adopted the community benefit standard, under which health-care providers must meet a flexible 

test based upon a variety of indicia. Providing free care to indigents is not required.448 Under 

the community benefit standard, it is not required that “the care of indigent patients be the 

 443 985 F.2d 1210 (3rd Cir. 1993), rev’g T.C. Memo. 1991-649. 

444 In the IPA model, health care is provided by physicians practicing independently in their own 

offices, with the IPA usually contracting on behalf of the physicians with the HMO. 

445 325 F.3d 1188 (10th Cir. 2003). 

446 Id. at 1198. 

447 Id.

448 See Redlands Surgical Services, Inc. v. Commissioner, 113 T.C. 47, 73 (1999), aff’d, 242 F.3d 

904 (9th Cir. 2001). 
130

primary concern of the charitable hospital, as distinguished from the care of paying patients.”449

Instead, the community benefit standard reflects “a policy of insuring that adequate health care 

services are actually delivered to those in the community who need them.”450 The community 

benefit standard has proved flexible enough to account for changes in health care providers, and 

under court decisions, applies not just to hospitals. Thus, a medical care organization like an 

HMO generally meets the community benefit standard if it demonstrates that its activities are 

targeted to a charitable class. However, the “precise nature of that charitable class has been and 

continues to be a source of controversy.”451 

Congressional Responses to Community Benefit Standard.–The change from the 

financial ability standard to the community benefit standard clearly is a significant change in 

law, but without a corresponding change to the Code. Congress, however, was not mute. 

Immediately after the community benefit standard was articulated, the Senate Finance 

Committee recommended revocation of the ruling and continuation of the IRS’s prior position 

“until such time as Congress can devise an alternative approach establishing reasonable 

yardsticks of charitable service related to the financial capacity of a hospital.”452 Although the 

Tax Reform Act of 1969 did result in significant changes to the tax-exempt sector (e.g., 

establishing a regime distinguishing private foundations from public charities), the Act did not 

address the concerns expressed by the Senate Finance Committee regarding the community 

benefit standard. 

In later years, the changing hospital marketplace and continued controversy over the 

IRS’s construction of charitable led to renewed concerns that hospitals recognized as tax exempt 

were not delivering sufficient medical care to the indigent.453 A 1990 GAO report found that 

“the link between tax-exempt status and the provision of charitable activities for the poor or 

underserved is weak for many nonprofit hospitals,” and recommended that “to the extent that one 

of the goals of the tax exemption is to continue or expand current levels of charity care and other 

services to the poor in an increasingly competitive hospital environment, changes in tax policy 

may be needed.” In response to this report, two separate bills were introduced linking a specified 

level of charitable care to the availability of tax-exemption.454 Neither proposal was enacted, 

 449 Sound Health Association v. Commissioner, 71 T.C. 158, 180 (1978). 

450 Id. at 180-81. 

451 Joint Committee on Taxation, Description and Analysis of Title VII of HR 3600, S.1757 and S. 

1775 (“Health Security Act”) (JCS-20-93), December 20, 1993. 

452 Report of the Staff to the Committee on Finance, 91st Cong. 1st Sess., Medicare and Medicaid: 

Problems, Issues, and Alternatives (Feb. 9, 1970), at 58. 

453 GAO Report to the Chairman, Select Committee on Aging, House of Representatives, 

Nonprofit Hospitals: Better Standards Needed for Tax Exemption Tax Compliance of Nonwage Earners, 

GAO/HRD-90-84, May 1990, at 15. 

454 Hospital Charity Care Act, H.R. 5686, 101st Cong., 2d Sess. (1990), reintroduced the 

following year as H.R. 790, 102d Cong., 1st Sess. (1991). The Charity Care Act proposed a substantive 
131

however. In 1994, Representative Richard Gephardt introduced an amendment to The Health 

Security Act455 that would have required section 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organizations that were 

primarily devoted to providing healthcare services to assess community healthcare needs, 

prepare written plans to meet those needs, perform qualified outreach services, and provide 

medically necessary services without regard to ability to pay. The proposed legislation was not 

enacted. 

 

test for hospitals to meet in order to obtain and keep their exemption. In addition to satisfying the basic 

requirements of section 501(c)(3), hospitals would have to serve a reasonable number of Medicare and 

Medicaid patients in a nondiscriminatory manner, and would have to provide, in an equally 

nondiscriminatory manner, ample qualified charity care and qualified community benefits. To satisfy the 

qualified charity care requirement, a hospital would have to expend fifty percent or more of the value of 

the hospital’s tax exemption for the tax year on unreimbursed charity care; see also H.R. 1374, 102nd 

Cong., 1st Sess. (1991) (requiring hospitals to provide emergency medical care, service to Medicaid 

patients, and certain community benefits to qualify tax exemption). 

455 H.R. 3600, 103d Cong., 2d Sess. (1994). 
132

C. Elder Care Facilities 

In general

Providing for the special needs of the aged has long been recognized as a charitable 

purpose for Federal tax purposes where the requisite elements of relief of distress and 

community benefit have been found to be present. For many years, the IRS took the position 

that old age homes were not charitable unless they were operated for the relief of poverty. In 

1972, the IRS modified its position and ruled that an organization providing housing and other 

care for the aged may qualify as a tax-exempt charitable organization if it operates in a manner 

designed to satisfy the three primary needs of the elderly, namely housing, health care, and 

financial security. Thus, an organization meeting these needs is not required to provide direct 

financial assistance to the elderly in order to be charitable because poverty is only one form of 

distress to which the elderly as a class are particularly susceptible.456

Charitable activities

Historical position: relief of the poor

The IRS’s historical position was that the aged were not a charitable class per se. 

Exemptions for organizations providing care and housing services to the aged generally were 

conditioned upon traditional notions of charity, such as whether the organization provided relief 

of the poor and distressed.457 For example, in Revenue Ruling 57-467, the IRS held that a home 

for the elderly that does not accept nonpaying guests and that requires the discharge of guests 

who fail to make required monthly payments is not charitable.458

Similarly, in Revenue Ruling 61-72, the IRS stated that providing “below cost” services 

to the elderly may qualify as a charitable activity.459 The IRS ruled that a home for the aged may 

be charitable if: (1) the organization is dedicated to providing, and in fact provides, care and 

housing to aged individuals who would otherwise be unable to provide for themselves without 

hardship, (2) such services are rendered to all or a reasonable proportion of its residents at 

substantially below cost, to the extent of the organization’s financial ability, and (3) the services 

are of the type that minister to the needs and the relief of hardship or distress of aged 

individuals.460 The IRS subsequently clarified that entrance fees paid as a prerequisite to 

obtaining residence and direct personal services in a home for the aged must be included along 

 456 Rev. Rul. 79-18, 1979-1 C.B. 194. 

457 See Gen. Couns. Mem. 34073 (March 12, 1969). 

458 Rev. Rul. 57-467, C.B. 1957-2, superseded by Rev. Rul. 72-124, 1972-1 C.B. 145. 

459 Rev. Rul. 61-72, 1961-1 C.B. 188. 

460 Id. 
133

with other care payments in determining whether the home renders services to all or a reasonable 

proportion of its residents at below cost.461

The elderly as a charitable class

In 1972, the IRS ruled that the aged, apart from considerations of financial hardship, are 

as a class highly susceptible to other forms of distress.462 The IRS identified three primary needs 

of aged persons: the need for housing, the need for health care, and the need for financial 

security. The satisfaction of these needs “contributes to the prevention and elimination of the 

causes of the unique forms of distress to which the aged, as a class, are highly susceptible.”463 

Organizations operated in a manner designed to satisfy all three primary needs may qualify for 

charitable status even though direct financial assistance to the elderly may not be involved.464 

Thus, after 1972, for certain purposes, the elderly can be considered a charitable class. 

Satisfying the needs for housing, health care, and financial security

An organization satisfies the need for housing if it provides residential facilities that are 

specifically designed to meet “some combination of the physical, emotional, recreational, social, 

religious, and similar needs of aged persons.”465

An organization satisfied the need for health care if it either directly provides some form 

of health care, or maintains some continuing arrangement with other organizations, facilities, or 

 461 Rev. Rul. 64-231, 1964-2 CB 139. 

462 Rev. Rul. 72-124, 1972-1 C.B. 145. The organization that was the subject of the ruling 

provided housing, limited nursing care, and other services and facilities to its elderly residents. 

Admission to the home was generally limited to persons who are at least 65 years of age. 

463 Id. 

464 Organizations providing housing for the elderly may qualify as charitable organizations on 

alternative grounds, for example, if they provide low-income housing (Rev. Proc. 96-32, 1996-1 C.B. 

717), assistance to the physically handicapped (Rev. Rul. 79-19, 1979-1 C.B. 195), or hospice-type 

facilities (Rev. Rul. 79-17, 1979-1 C.B. 193). 

465 Id. See Revenue Ruling 79-18, 1979-1 C.B. 194, for an example of housing that is specially 

designed to meet the needs of the elderly (ruling that apartment units that were constructed with fireresistant materials and equipped with safety features such as grab bars by bathtubs and toilets, wide 

entrance-exit doorways, ramps and elevators for wheelchair use, floors designed to help prevent slips and 

falls, conveniently located electrical outlets and cabinets to avoid strenuous bending or stretching, 

windows at eye level for residents confined to wheelchairs, and an emergency 24-hour alarm system 

qualified). 
134

health personnel, designed to maintain the physical, and, if necessary, the mental well being of 

its residents.466 

An organization satisfies the need of the elderly for financial security (i.e., the aged 

person’s need for protection against the financial risks associated with the later years of life), if it 

meets two conditions. First, the organization must be committed to an established policy of 

maintaining in residence any person who becomes unable to pay their regular charges. Second, 

the organization must operate so as to provide its services to the aged at the lowest feasible cost. 

Whether services are provided at the lowest feasible cost is determined by taking into 

consideration such expenses as the payment of indebtedness, maintenance of adequate reserves 

sufficient to ensure the life care of each resident, and reserves for physical expansion 

commensurate with the needs of the community and the existing resources of the organization.467

Other services provided to the elderly

The ruling that the elderly are a charitable class has led to recognition of a number of 

charitable activities for the benefit of the elderly, including senior citizen centers,468 rural rest 

homes,469 meal delivery organizations,470 broadcasting organizations,471 transportation 

providers,472 and a beauty shop.473

 466 Rev. Rul. 72-124, 1972-1 C.B. 145; see also Rev. Rul. 79-18, 1979-1 C.B. 194 (keeping an 

employee on duty 24 hours a day who gave temporary aid in emergencies, contacted professional help 

(doctor, ambulance service, etc.) and ensured that steps necessary to render aid were carried out, and 

providing transportation for medical examination and follow-up treatment). 

467 See Rev. Rul. 79-18, 1979-1 C.B. 194 (ruling that rental charges for apartment units must be 

set at a level that is within the financial reach of a significant segment of the community's elderly); 

compare Gen. Couns. Mem. 39487 (March 21, 1986) (ruling that an organization did not qualify for 

exemption because it sold housing units to the elderly on a fee simple basis with the result that title to the 

housing unit was held by an independent lender, who could foreclose on the residence). 

468 Rev. Rul. 75-198, 1975-1 C.B. 157 (ruling that senior citizen centers are charitable if the 

center offers information, referral, and counseling services relating to health, housing, finances, 

education, and employment, as well as a facility for specialized recreation for a particular community’s 

senior citizens, who need not be members to obtain services or participate in the activities). 

469 Rev. Rul. 75-385, 1975-2 C.B. 205 (ruling that a rural rest home to provide, at a nominal 

charge, two-week vacations for elderly poor people from nearby metropolitan areas is charitable because 

the vacations are relieving the distress of being poor as well as aged). 

470 Rev. Rul. 76-244, 1976-1 C.B. 155 (ruling that an organization that provides home delivery of 

meals to elderly and handicapped people by volunteers, for a fee insufficient to cover the cost of 

operations but approximating the cost of the meals provided, or for a reduced fee or no fee depending on 

the recipient’s ability to pay, is operated for charitable purposes). 

471 Rev. Rul. 77-42, 1977-1 C.B. 142 (ruling that an organization that set up closed circuit radio 

systems in nursing homes, rest homes and convalescent homes for senior citizens and broadcast programs 

and items regarding senior citizens was charitable because the organization relieved the distress of aged 
135

D. Credit Counseling Organizations 

In general

In the last 40 years, there has been “enormous growth in the availability of credit and the 

amount of outstanding debt.”474 In an effort to manage their debt or repair damaged credit, many 

consumers have sought help from credit counseling organizations. In response, an entire 

industry of credit counseling, credit repair, and debt management and debt consolidation has 

emerged over the past 30 years, with much of this activity conducted by nonprofit organizations 

that received favorable tax-exempt status determinations from the IRS.475 

Credit counseling organizations may be exempt as a charitable or educational 

organization described in section 501(c)(3), or as a social welfare organization described in 

section 501(c)(4). The IRS reports, however, that the vast majority of credit counseling 

organizations apply for charitable status under section 501(c)(3). During the period from 1994 to 

late 2003, 1,215 credit counseling organizations applied to the IRS for tax exempt status under 

section 501(c)(3), including 810 from 2000 to 2003.476 As of late 2003, the IRS has recognized 

more than 850 credit counseling organizations as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3).477 In 

 

persons by providing them with an opportunity to listen to free, non-commercial, and educational radio 

broadcasts concerning their special needs such as employment, financial security, health and legal care, as 

well as cultural and recreational needs). 

472 Rev. Rul. 77-246, 1977-2 C.B. 190 (ruling that an organization that provides low cost bus 

transportation to senior citizens and handicapped persons in the community where public transportation is 

unavailable or inadequate is charitable). 

473 Rev. Rul. 81-61, 1981-1 C.B. 355 (ruling that the operation of a beauty shop by a charitable 

senior citizens center was not an unrelated trade or business because it served elderly persons with 

physical impairments who would experience difficulty in obtaining the services elsewhere). 

474 See Chief Coun. Adv. 200431023 (July 13, 2004). 

475 As of late 2003, there were 872 active tax-exempt credit counseling agencies operating in the 

United States. See United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on 

Governmental Affairs, Profiteering in a Non-Profit Industry: Abusive Practices in Credit Counseling, 

Report Prepared by the Majority & Minority Staffs of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and 

Released in Conjunction with the Permanent Subcommittee Investigations’ Hearing on March 24, 2004, 

p. 3 (citing letter dated December 18, 2003, to the Subcommittee from IRS Commissioner Everson). 

476 United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on 

Governmental Affairs, Profiteering in a Non-Profit Industry: Abusive Practices in Credit Counseling, 

Report Prepared by the Majority & Minority Staffs of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and 

Released in Conjunction with the Permanent Subcommittee Investigations’ Hearing on March 24, 2004, 

p. 3 (citing letter dated December 18, 2003, to the Subcommittee from IRS Commissioner Everson). 

477 Testimony of Commissioner Mark Everson before the House Ways and Means Committee, 

Subcommittee on Oversight (November 20, 2003). 
136

contrast, few credit counseling organizations have sought section 501(c)(4) status, and the IRS 

reports it has not seen any significant increase in the number or activity of such organizations 

operating as social welfare organizations.478 The preference for operating as an organization 

exempt under section 501(c)(3) may be explained, in part, by the regulatory exemptions from 

certain Federal and State consumer protection laws afforded such organizations that generally are 

not available for social welfare organizations described in section 501(c)(4).479

Standards for exemption

The IRS has issued two revenue rulings holding that certain credit counseling 

organizations are exempt as charitable or educational organizations described in section 

501(c)(3), or as social welfare organizations described in section 501(c)(4).480 Judicial decisions 

relaxed the standard for exemption for a charitable credit counseling organization from that first 

enunciated by the IRS in published rulings. 

In Revenue Ruling 65-299, an organization whose purpose was to assist families and 

individuals with financial problems, and help reduce the incidence of personal bankruptcy, was a 

social welfare organization described in section 501(c)(4). The organization counseled people in 

financial difficulties, advised applicants on payment of debts, and negotiated with creditors and 

set up debt repayment plans. The organization did not restrict its services to the poor, made no 

charge for counseling services, and made a nominal charge for certain services to cover postage 

and supplies. For financial support, the organization relied on voluntary contributions from local 

businesses, lending agencies, and labor unions. 

In Revenue Ruling 69-441, the IRS ruled that an organization was a charitable or 

educational organization exempt under section 501(c)(3) by virtue of aiding low-income people 

who had financial problems and providing education to the public. The organization had two 

functions: (1) educating the public on personal money management, such as budgeting, buying 

practices, and the sound use of consumer credit through the use of films, speakers, and 

publications; and (2) providing individual counseling to low-income individuals and families 

without charge. As part of its counseling activities, the organization established debt 

 478 Id. 

479 E.g., The Credit Repair Organizations Act, 15 U.S.C. section 1679 et seq., effective April 1, 

1997 (imposing restrictions on credit repair organizations that are enforced by the Federal Trade 

Commission, including forbidding the making of untrue or misleading statements and forbidding advance 

payments; section 501(c)(3) organizations are explicitly exempt from such regulation). Testimony of 

Commissioner Mark Everson before the House Ways and Means Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight 

(November 20, 2003) (California’s consumer protections laws that impose strict standards on credit 

service organizations and the credit repair industry do not apply to nonprofit organizations that have 

received a final determination from the IRS that they are exempt from tax under section 501(c)(3) and are 

not private foundations). 

480 Rev. Rul. 65-299, 1965-2 C.B. 165; Rev. Rul. 69-441, 1969-2 C.B. 115. 
137

management plans for clients who required such services, at no charge to the clients.481 The 

organization was supported by contributions primarily from creditors, and its board of directors 

was comprised of representatives from religious organizations, civic groups, labor unions, 

business groups, and educational institutions. 

The IRS’s standard for exemption, i.e., requiring that assistance be to low-income 

individuals (or providing services without charge), was challenged in court.482 In 1976, the IRS 

denied charitable status to an organization whose activities were distinguishable from those in 

Revenue Ruling 69-441 in that (1) it did not restrict its services to the poor and (2) it charged a 

nominal fee for its debt management plans. The organization appealed the IRS’s decision and 

the court determined that the organization qualified as charitable and educational because it 

educated the public on subjects useful to the individual and beneficial to the community. The 

court held that the law did not require that an organization must perform its exempt functions 

solely for the benefit of low-income individuals to be considered charitable. The court found the 

debt management plans to be an integral part of the agency’s counseling function, and viewed its 

debt management activities as incidental to its principal functions, as only approximately 12 

percent of the counselors’ time was applied to such programs and the charge for the service was 

nominal. The court also considered the facts that the agency was publicly supported, and that it 

had a board dominated by members of the general public, as factors indicating a charitable 

operation.483 

Recent developments

Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of large-volume, commercial-type 

credit counseling agencies. In recent years, there also have been a number of new credit 

counseling entities that engage in aggressive marketing and advertising while providing very 

little legitimate credit counseling or financial training.484 In addition, many of today’s credit 

counseling organizations conduct as their primary activity, and derive most of their revenues 

from, debt management planning and other activities. Because of these changes in the industry, 

 481 Debt management plans are debt payment arrangements, including debt consolidation 

arrangements, entered into by a debtor and one or more of the debtor’s creditors, generally structured to 

reduce the amount of a debtor’s regular ongoing payment by modifying the interest rate, minimum 

payment, maturity or other terms of the debt. Such plans frequently are promoted as a means for a debtor 

to restructure debt without filing for bankruptcy. 

482 Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Alabama, Inc. v. U.S., 78-2 U.S.T.C. 9660 (D.D.C. 

1978). The case involved 24 agencies throughout the United States. 

483 See also, Credit Counseling Centers of Oklahoma, Inc., v. U.S., 79-2 U.S.T.C. 9468 (D.D.C. 

1979) (holding the same on virtually identical facts). 

484 Michelle Singletary, Mandatory Counseling: A Good Idea in Theory, Washington Post, 

March 20, 2005. Under bankruptcy legislation recently passed by Congress, individuals will have to 

undergo some form of credit counseling at least 180 days before they are allowed to file for bankruptcy 

protection.
138

Congress and the IRS have expressed concern that tax-exempt credit counseling organizations 

are not fulfilling their exempt purpose. The Congress recently conducted hearings investigating 

the activities of credit counseling organizations under various consumer protection laws,485 such 

as the Federal Trade Commission Act.486 Moreover, the IRS has commenced a broad 

examination and compliance program with respect to the credit counseling industry, pursuant to 

which the IRS has initiated audits of 50 credit counseling organizations, including nine of the 15 

largest in terms of gross receipts.487 In a recent legal memorandum, the IRS found that the 

operations of the new generation of credit counseling organizations are different from those 

considered in prior revenue rulings and case law in that many organizations are not providing 

any meaningful education or relief of the poor.488 The IRS concluded that many credit 

counseling organizations may not qualify for exemption under section 501(c)(3) because of 

operation for a substantial nonexempt purpose, substantial private benefit, and private 

inurement.489

 485 United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on 

Governmental Affairs, Profiteering in a Non-Profit Industry: Abusive Practices in Credit Counseling, 

Report Prepared by the Majority & Minority Staffs of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and 

Released in Conjunction with the Permanent Subcommittee Investigations’ Hearing on March 24, 2004.

486 15 U.S.C. sec. 45(a) (prohibiting unfair and deceptive acts or practices in or affecting 

commerce; although the Federal Trade Commission generally lacks jurisdiction to enforce consumer 

protection laws against bona fide nonprofit organizations, it may assert jurisdiction over a nonprofit, 

including a credit counseling organization, if it demonstrates the organization is organized to carry on 

business for profit, is a mere instrumentality of a for-profit entity, or operates through a common 

enterprise with one or more for-profit entities). 

487 United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on 

Governmental Affairs, Profiteering in a Non-Profit Industry: Abusive Practices in Credit Counseling, 

Report Prepared by the Majority & Minority Staffs of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and 

Released in Conjunction with the Permanent Subcommittee Investigations’ Hearing on March 24, 2004, 

p. 31. 

488 See Chief Couns. Adv. 200431023 (July 13, 2004). 

489 Id.; see also Priv. Ltr. Rul. 200506038 (November 15, 2004) (denying a credit counseling 

organization’s application for exempt status as an organization described in section 501(c)(3) because (1) 

its articles of incorporation did not establish an exempt purpose and its services were not limited to the 

poor, distressed or other charitable class; (2) it operated primarily to provide debt-management plans to 

customers; an activity that is considered to be commercial in nature; (3) it did not provide public 

education, and (4) the composition of the board presented a serious risk of inurement). 
139

E. Low-income Housing 

In general

Nonprofit housing organizations created to aid low-income families may qualify as 

charitable organizations on the basis of providing relief to the poor. In addition, organizations 

providing housing assistance that is not limited to the poor may qualify for exemption if the 

organization serves other charitable purposes such as lessening the burdens of government, 

eliminating discrimination, combating community deterioration, or providing specialized 

housing for the elderly.490

Standards for exemption

Relief of the poor

In Revenue Ruling 70-585,491 the IRS considered situations under which a nonprofit 

organization created to provide housing for low- or moderate-income families may qualify as a 

charitable organization. In one fact pattern, the organization’s activities included developing 

new and renovating existing homes for sale to low-income families on long-term, low-payment 

plans. By providing housing for low- and, in certain circumstances, moderate-income families 

who could not otherwise afford them, the IRS held the organization was relieving the poor and 

distressed and, thus, was engaged in a charitable activity.492 The ruling also holds that the 

determination of what constitutes low income is a factual question based on the surrounding 

circumstances. 

In Revenue Ruling 76-408,493 the IRS ruled that an organization that provided interestfree loans to homeowners in a deteriorated urban residential area was engaged in charitable 

activities. In the facts of the ruling, homeowners used loans provided by the organization to 

make repairs to their homes necessary to meet local housing code regulations. To obtain a loan, 

homeowners had to qualify under low-income standards determined by a government agency and 

show that they were unable to obtain a loan elsewhere. The organization periodically reviewed 

the work on the repairs to assure that the funds were used for the stated purpose. The IRS 

reasoned that the organization relieved the poor and distressed and was charitable. 

Over the past few decades, new models of affordable housing have been established as an 

alternative to large public housing projects, including many mixed-income developments. 

 490 Rev. Proc. 96-32, 1996-1 C.B. 717.

491 1970-2 C.B. 115. 

492 Id.; see also Rev Rul 67-138, 1967-1 CB 129 (holding that an organization’s activities in 

coordinating and supervising construction of housing, purchasing building sites for resale at cost, and 

assisting low-income families in obtaining home construction loans are charitable). 

493 1976-2 C.B. 145. 
140

Questions arose whether organizations serving individuals with a mix of incomes, only some of 

whom are poor, qualify as charitable. In response, the IRS issued low-income housing 

guidelines in 1996 that set forth criteria for determining whether a housing organization provides 

relief to the poor.494 Revenue Procedure 96-32 establishes a safe-harbor to identify those lowincome housing organizations that will be considered to relieve the poor and distressed. The 

revenue procedure also describes a facts and circumstances test that applies to determine whether 

organizations falling outside the safe harbor are charitable organizations. 

To satisfy the safe harbor of Revenue Procedure 96-32, an organization must reserve a 

significant percentage of residential units for occupancy by both low-income and very lowincome families.495 Specifically, the organization must establish that at least 75 percent of the 

residential units are occupied by low-income residents and either 20 percent of the units are 

occupied by very low-income residents or 40 percent of the units are occupied by residents 

whose income does not exceed 120 percent of the low-income limit. To assist in the social and 

economic integration of poorer residents, Revenue Procedure 96-32 does permit a limited 

number of housing units to be occupied by residents with incomes above low-income limits. 

However, the large percentage of units that must actually be occupied by low-income residents is 

“to avoid giving undue assistance to those who can otherwise afford safe, decent, and sanitary 

housing.”496

Organizations that provide low-income housing, but do not satisfy the safe-harbor 

procedures of Revenue Procedure 96-32 must demonstrate that they relieve the poor and 

distressed. In this context, the IRS has held that an organization must establish that it is serving 

persons who could not afford safe and sanitary housing without assistance. Factors the IRS 

considers in making this determination include, but are not limited to, the affordability of the 

residential units provided, participation in a government-housing program designed to provide 

affordable housing, the level of community-based board membership, and the provision of social 

services to the poor residents.497

Exempt purposes other than relieving the poor

Housing organizations may qualify for exemption without having to satisfy the standards 

for relief of the poor and distressed by providing housing in a manner that accomplishes any 

other charitable purposes. Lessening the burdens of government,498 lessening neighborhood 

 494 Rev. Proc. 96-32, 1996-1 C.B. 717. 

495 For purposes of the revenue procedure, low-income and very low-income families are 

identified in accordance with income limits computed and published by the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development. 

496 Rev. Proc. 96-32, 1996-1 C.B. 717. 

497 Id. 

498 Rev. Ruls. 85-1 and 85-2, 1985-1 C.B. 177-178 (ruling that an organization lessens the 

burdens of government if (a) there is an objective manifestation by the governmental unit that it considers 
141

tensions,499 combatting community deterioration,500 and eliminating prejudice and 

discrimination501 are all activities the IRS has recognized as charitable for purposes of 

determining whether nonprofit housing organizations qualify for exemption under section 

501(c)(3). 

 

the activities of the organization to be the government’s burdens, and (b) the organization actually lessens 

the government’s burdens). 

499 Fighting poverty and community deterioration associated with overcrowding in lower income 

areas in which ethnic or racial tensions are high lessen neighborhood tensions. Rev. Rul. 68-655, 1968-2 

C.B. 213; Rev. Rul. 70-585, 1970-2 C.B. 115 (Situation 2); Rev. Proc. 96-32, 1996-1 C.B. 717. 

500 An organization that combats community deterioration must (1) operate in an area with actual 

or potential deterioration, and (2) directly prevent or relieve that deterioration. Constructing or 

rehabilitating housing has the potential to combat community deterioration. See Rev. Rul. 68-17, 1968-1 

C.B. 247; Rev. Rul. 68-655, 1968-2 C.B. 213; Rev. Rul. 70-585, 1970-2 C.B. 115 (Situation 3) 

(organization’s purposes and activities combat community deterioration by assisting in the rehabilitation 

of an old and run-down residential area). 

501 Situation 2 of Revenue Ruling 70-585, 1970-2 C.B. 115 describes an organization formed to 

eliminate prejudice and discrimination. The organization was formed to ameliorate the housing needs of 

minority groups by building housing units for sale to persons of low and moderate income on an open 

occupancy basis. Housing was made available to members of minority groups with low and moderate 

income who are unable to obtain adequate housing because of local discrimination. The IRS held that the 

organization’s activities were designed to eliminate prejudice and discrimination and to lessen 

neighborhood tensions, thus, it was engaged in charitable activities. See also Rev. Rul. 68-655, 1968-2 

C.B. 213. 
142

F. Environmental Organizations 

In general

Organizations established to preserve and promote the natural environment may be 

exempt under section 501(c)(3) as charitable, educational, or scientific organizations. The 

exemption for environmental organizations generally is based on the principle that efforts to 

preserve and protect the natural environment for the benefit of the public serve a charitable 

purpose. In addition, organizations engaged in activities designed to enhance land conservation 

and preservation may be viewed as advancing education and science. 

Administrative and judicial rulings

Several IRS rulings have recognized the charitable and educational nature of 

organizations designed to preserve and promote the natural environment. For example, in 

Revenue Ruling 70-186,502 the IRS ruled that an organization formed to preserve a lake as a 

public recreational facility and to improve the condition of the water in the lake in order to 

enhance its recreational features qualifies as charitable. By treating the water, removing algae, 

and otherwise improving the condition of the water, the IRS found the organization insured the 

continued use of the lake for public recreational purposes and, thus, performed a charitable 

activity. 

In Revenue Ruling 76-204,503 the IRS ruled that an organization formed for the purpose 

of preserving the natural environment by acquiring ecologically significant undeveloped land, 

and either maintaining the land itself with limited public access or transferring the land to a 

government conservation agency by outright gift, or being reimbursed by the agency for its cost, 

qualified as charitable. In the ruling, the IRS noted that the promotion of conservation and 

protection of natural resources has been recognized by Congress as serving a broad public 

benefit. The IRS described the benefit to the public from environmental conservation as deriving 

“not merely from the current educational, scientific, and recreational uses that are made of 

natural resources, but from their preservation as well.”504 Thus, by preserving ecologically 

significant land, the IRS ruled the organization was advancing education and science and 

benefiting the public in a charitable manner. The IRS noted, however, that the organization’s 

restriction on access to the land was essential to its preservation and, therefore, essential to the 

fulfillment of the organization’s charitable purpose. 

 502 1970-1 C.B. 129; see also Rev. Rul. 67-292, 1967-2 C.B. 184 (holding that an organization 

formed for the purpose of purchasing and maintaining a sanctuary for wild birds and animals for the 

benefit of the public may qualify as charitable). 

503 1976-1 C.B. 152, distinguished by Rev. Rul. 78-384, 1978-2 C.B. 174. 

504 Id. 
143

In Revenue Ruling 78-384,505 the IRS considered the exemption of an organization that 

owned farmland and restricted its use to farming or other uses the organization deemed 

ecologically suitable. However, there was no claim that the land itself was ecologically 

significant. As a result, the IRS distinguished the organization’s activities from those of the 

organization in Revenue Ruling 76-204 and denied the organization’s charitable status. Thus, 

the IRS took the position that the mere preservation of existing land without a showing that the 

land has any distinctive ecological significance does not constitute a charitable purpose. 

In Dumaine Farms v. Commissioner,

506 the Tax Court held that an organization operating 

a model farm as a demonstration conservation project served scientific and educational purposes, 

and thus was charitable. The organization was engaged in experimental farming methods with 

the purpose of showing that farming could be profitable while maintaining sound ecological 

principles. Similar to Revenue Ruling 78-384, the farm land held by the organization did not 

have any significant environmental attributes. The court, however, did not find this fact to be a 

bar to the organization’s exempt status. Rather, the court noted that the organization’s goal was 

not to preserve land in an untouched natural state, but to restore “overcultivated and exhausted 

land to a working ecological balance.” 507 Therefore, it was essential to the organization’s 

purpose that the land be generally representative of the surrounding farmland. Rather than focus 

on the nature of the land, as was the case in Revenue Ruling 78-384, the court looked to the use 

of the land, i.e., whether the organization used the land for an exempt purpose. 

In 1980, Congress passed the Tax Treatment Extension Act,508 which provided a 

charitable deduction for “qualified conservation contributions”509 to certain qualified 

organizations for conservation purposes.510 Qualified organizations include section 501(c)(3) 

organizations that are public charities.511 Conservation purposes include: (1) the preservation of 

land areas for outdoor recreation by, or for the education of, the general public; (2) the protection 

of a relatively natural habitat of fish, wildlife, or plants, or similar ecosystem; (3) the 

preservation of open space (including farmland and forest land) where such preservation will 

yield a significant public benefit and is either for the scenic enjoyment of the general public or 

pursuant to a clearly delineated Federal, State, or local governmental conservation policy; and 

(4) the preservation of an historically important land area or a certified historic structure. The 

 505 1978-2 C.B. 174. 

506 73 T.C. 650 (1980). 

507 Id. at 653. 

508 Pub. L. No. 96-541. 

509 Sec. 170(f)(3)(B)(iii). 

510 In general, a charitable deduction is not permitted for a contribution of a partial interest in 

property. The deduction for qualified conservation contributions is an exception to this general rule. 

511 Sec. 170(h)(3)(B). 
144

legislative history to the Act indicates that the specified preservation activities yield significant 

benefits to the public and are to be encouraged.512

Subsequent to the 1980 amendments to section 170, the IRS issued an internal legal 

memorandum stating that organizations that are established to accept and preserve qualified 

conservation contributions that do not otherwise conflict with the requirements of section 501, 

may be entitled to exemption.513 The IRS stated that the deduction for qualified conservation 

contributions does not directly conflict with the exemption standards previously stated in 

Revenue Rulings 76-204 and 78-384 because Congress indicated that preservation efforts must 

be directed to “unique or otherwise significant land areas” and not to “the preservation of an 

ordinary tract of land.”514 However, the IRS also has stated that the 1980 amendments raise a 

strong implication as to Congressional intent that organizations that are established to accept and 

preserve the specified types of properties may be entitled to exemption,515 meaning that 

charitable purposes of necessity may expand beyond the “ecologically significant” standard 

articulated in prior IRS rulings.516

 512 S. Rep. No. 1007, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (1980). 

513 Gen. Couns. Mem. 39055 (May 11, 1983). 

514 Id. (citing S. Rep. No. 1007, 96th Cong., 2d Sess. (1980)). 

515 Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9526033 (June 30, 1995) (ruling that to the extent an organization’s land 

preservation guidelines track the language of the 1980 amendments its activities will further charitable 

purposes). 

516 Gen. Couns. Mem. 39055 (May 11, 1983); see also Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9526033 (June 30, 1995). 
145

G. College Sports 

In general

College athletic organizations that promote certain aspects of athletic competition have 

generally been held to be educational and, thus, exempt under section 501(c)(3). The exemption 

is based on the principle that an athletic program conducted for the physical development and 

betterment of the students is an integral part of a university’s overall educational activities. In 

addition, the revenue that a college or university derives from admission to athletic events is 

income from a related business to the extent the activities are substantially related to the 

institution’s educational programs.517 Today, colleges and universities may generate significant 

financial benefits from their participation in athletic events.518

Administrative and judicial rulings

Traditionally, the mere promotion of sports was not viewed as a charitable activity.519 

However, several administrative and judicial decisions hold that an athletic organization 

associated with an educational institution qualifies for exemption if the organization’s purposes 

and activities further the educational program of the institution. For example, in Revenue Ruling 

67-291,520 the IRS considered whether an organization whose principal activity consisted of 

subsidizing a dining room for coaches and members of the university athletic teams qualified for 

exemption. In granting exemption, the IRS found that the athletic program of the university was 

an integral part of its overall educational activities. The organization’s purposes and activities 

furthered the educational program of the university by providing necessary services to the 

student athletes and coaches. 

In Mobile Arts and Sports Ass’n. v. United States,

521 the court held that an organization 

that conducted an annual football game between two all-star teams composed of outstanding 

seniors from colleges across the country was entitled to exemption as a charitable organization. 

Each member of the winning team was paid $500, and each member of the losing team received 

$400. The managers and coaches of the respective teams were also paid for their services. In 

 517 In the legislative history of the Revenue Act of 1950, Congress stated that “[a]thletic activities 

of schools are substantially related to their educational functions.” Therefore, “a university would not be 

taxable on income derived from a basketball tournament sponsored by it, even where the teams were 

composed of students of other schools.” H. R. Rep. No. 2319, 81st Cong., 2d Sess., at 37 (1950); S. Rep. 

No. 2375, 81st Cong., 2d Sess. (1950). 

518 See David A. Haimes, Corporate Sponsorships of Charity Events and the Unrelated 

Businsess Income Tax: Will Congress or the Courts Block the IRS Rush to Sack the College Football 

Games? 67 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1079 (1992). 

519 Restatement (Second) of Trusts, sec. 374 (1959). 

520 1967-2 C.B. 184. 

521 148 F. Supp. 311 (S.D. Ala. 1957). 
146

upholding the organization’s exemption, the court noted that a player in the game must be a 

senior in college and must be finished with all competition in collegiate athletics. On the day the 

game is played, it is the only football game in the nation and is not in competition with any other 

game. The court held that the game was an integral part of the organization’s civic and 

educational program and bore a close and intimate relationship to the civic and educational 

objects for which the organization was organized. The court also held that income from the 

game was not unrelated business income.522

Although the IRS disagreed with the result in Mobile Arts,

523 a legal memorandum issued 

by the IRS in 1977 concluded that an organization formed for a similar purpose, i.e., the 

presentation of an annual college football bowl game, qualified for exemption.524 The IRS 

distinguished the case from Mobile Arts by the fact the organization was controlled by and its 

activities were an integral part of the activities of its member universities. The IRS also stated 

that the game furthered an educational purpose. The IRS initially concluded that the 

broadcasting revenues received by the organization constituted unrelated trade or business 

income because broadcasting the game was not substantially related to its exempt purpose and 

the sale of the broadcasting rights constituted a trade or business activity regularly carried on by 

the organization.525 However, the IRS subsequently reversed its position and determined that the 

broadcast income was substantially related to exempt purposes and not taxable as unrelated 

business income.526 

In Revenue Ruling 80-296,527 the IRS held that the educational purposes served by 

exhibiting a game before an audience that is physically present and exhibiting the game on 

television or radio before a much larger audience are substantially similar. Thus, the IRS held 

the sale of the broadcasting rights and the resultant broadcasting of the game contributes 

importantly to the accomplishment of an organization’s exempt purposes.528

The rulings discussed above in which athletic organizations were granted exemption are 

premised on the educational nature of the organization’s activities. The basis for these rulings is 

 522 Id. at 316. 

523 A.O.D. (May 14, 1957). 

524 Gen. Couns. Mem. 37048 (March 18, 1977). 

525 Id. 

526 Gen. Couns. Mem. 37618 (July 28, 1978). 

527 1980-2 C.B. 195. 

528 Id. Similar issues arise with respect to other types of income educational institutions generate 

in connection with sporting events. For example, in a case involving the National Collegiate Athletic 

Association, a court held that income from advertising in a sports program distributed during a three week 

basketball tournament was not regularly carried on for purposes of the tax on unrelated business income. 

National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Commissioner, 914 F.2d 1417 (10th Cir. 1990). 
147

not to be confused with the statutory inclusion in section 501(c)(3) of organizations that foster 

national or international sports competition. In 1976, Congress found section 501(c)(3) as 

written to be “a source of confusion and inequity for amateur sports organizations whereby some 

gained favored tax-exempt status while others, apparently equally deserving, did not.”529 

Therefore, Congress amended section 501(c)(3) to include in the enumerated charitable 

classifications organizations whose purpose is to “foster national or international amateur sports 

competition (but only if no part of its activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or 

equipment).” Since the 1976 amendment, Courts have held that the promotion, advancement, 

and sponsorship of amateur sports are exempt purposes under section 501(c)(3),530 even if not 

provided in connection with an educational program. 

 529 Joint Committee on Taxation, General Explanation of the Tax Reform Act of 1976, (JCS-33-

76), December 29, 1976, at 423. 

530 Hutchinson Baseball Enterprises, Inc. v. Commissioner, 73 T.C. 144 (1979), aff’d, 696 F.2d 

757 (10th Cir. 1982); but compare Wayne Baseball, Inc. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo 1999-304 (denying 

exemption where amateur baseball team merely served the members social and recreational interests).
148 

IV. DATA ON EXEMPT SECTOR AND CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS 

Table 5.–All Section 501(c) Exempt Organizations, Excluding Private Foundations:

Number of Organizations and Selected Financial Information, by Type of Organization,

1975 and 2001, SOI and Master File Data

[All figures are estimates based on samples, -- money amounts are in millions of constant dollars, 2001=100]

IRC Number Total Total Total Program Contributions Gross Total

section Type of Organization of assets liabilities revenue2 service gifts, and dues and expenses

organizations1 revenue grants assessments

2001

Total............................................................................ 384,534 2,465,910 959,873 1,186,204 837,644 227,843 43,251 1,141,584 

501(c)(1) Corporations organized under Act of Congress.......... 12 18 15 29 29 1 3 29 

501(c)(2) Title holding companies............................................... 2,898 14,836 3,037 1,813 633 62 38 1,126 

501(c)(3) Charitable, religious, educational, and scientific - - - - - - - 

 organizations............................................................ 250,893 1,702,105 608,692 902,510 628,420 218,581 7,881 863,040 

501(c)(4) Civic leagues, social welfare, and local - - - - - - - 

 associations of employees........................................ 24,551 80,789 46,058 50,251 40,960 4,216 2,149 48,720 

501(c)(5) Labor, agricultural, and horticultural - - - - - - - 

 organizations............................................................ 21,297 24,290 4,474 18,330 3,732 653 11,895 17,505 

501(c)(6) Business leagues, chambers of commerce and - - - - - - - 

 real estate boards.................................................... 31,051 45,640 25,350 28,086 11,866 1,958 11,034 27,629 

501(c)(7) Social and recreational clubs....................................... 16,910 19,398 6,223 9,979 1,910 104 5,862 9,747 

501(c)(8) Fraternal beneficiary societies..................................... 7,399 71,319 61,385 11,397 8,214 194 297 11,244 

501(c)(9) Voluntary employee beneficiary associations.............. 7,895 112,974 26,798 104,961 97,054 957 3,079 110,527 

501(c)(10) Domestic fraternal societies......................................... 2,909 2,637 168 590 81 60 132 581 

501(c)(11) Teachers retirement fund associations........................ 6 344 63 2 3 1 8 23 

501(c)(12) Local benevolent life insurance associations............. 3,636 67,964 41,467 29,345 26,450 419 293 27,603 

501(c)(13) Cemetery companies................................................... 2,157 7,540 858 880 364 31 5 817 

501(c)(14) State chartered credit unions....................................... 1,451 269,669 116,411 19,416 13,285 65 257 16,794 

501(c)(15) Certain mutual insurance companies or - - - - - - - 

 associations.............................................................. 1,128 5,790 9,851 698 121 3 43 352 

501(c)(16) Farmers co-ops organized to finance crop - - - - - - - 

 operations................................................................. 11 404 334 28 22 3 3 26 

501(c)(17) Supplemental unemployment benefit trusts................. 129 313 29 331 297 3 15 321 

501(c)(18) Employee funded pension trusts.................................. 1 1,605 61 60 33 - - 122 

501(c)(19) War veterans organizations......................................... 6,817 2,505 549 1,243 209 212 148 1,192 

501(c)(20-25) Other organizations..................................................... 1,085 31,982 6,785 3,046 1,555 24 17 1,174 

Organizations not specified......................................... 2,298 3,789 1,262 3,211 2,406 305 101 3,010 

1975

Total............................................................................ 220,197 474,844 203,972 243,370 n.a. 55,393 52,322 233,454 

501(c)(1) Corporations organized under Act of Congress.......... 665 16,208 15,640 1,387 n.a. 29 72 1,296 

501(c)(2) Title holding companies............................................... 3,263 4,445 2,297 1,092 n.a. 61 61 1,080 

501(c)(3) Charitable, religious, educational, and scientific

 organizations............................................................ 82,048 292,279 97,873 145,855 n.a. 46,086 4,115 138,047 

501(c)(4) Civic leagues, social welfare, and local

 associations of employees........................................ 28,064 34,282 24,635 39,598 n.a. 1,833 23,047 39,976 

501(c)(5) Labor, agricultural, and horticultural

 organizations............................................................ 28,258 10,915 1,395 12,777 n.a. 322 8,710 12,465 

501(c)(6) Business leagues, chambers of commerce and

 real estate boards.................................................... 17,530 9,343 4,130 8,668 n.a. 620 5,807 8,676 

501(c)(7) Social and recreational clubs....................................... 18,228 9,103 3,129 5,117 n.a. 86 2,914 5,088 

501(c)(8) Fraternal beneficiary societies..................................... 12,066 16,961 11,515 3,854 n.a. 123 1,938 3,609 

501(c)(9) Voluntary employee beneficiary associations.............. 4,285 11,587 4,060 13,355 n.a. 5,187 4,439 13,041 

501(c)(10) Domestic fraternal societies......................................... 4,674 3,240 1,078 809 n.a. 57 255 737 

501(c)(11) Teachers retirement fund associations........................ 49 638 84 103 n.a. 16 11 60 

501(c)(12) Local benevolent life insurance associations............. 4,975 28,884 21,869 5,294 n.a. 45 416 4,863 

501(c)(13) Cemetery companies................................................... 1,518 2,813 598 487 n.a. 14 5 416 

501(c)(14) State chartered credit unions....................................... 1,610 30,051 14,287 2,604 n.a. 3 22 1,555 

501(c)(15) Certain mutual insurance companies or

 associations.............................................................. 864 310 17 153 n.a. *3 68 133 

501(c)(16) Farmers co-ops organized to finance crop

 operations................................................................. 36 577 428 139 n.a. 50 33 123 

501(c)(17) Supplemental unemployment benefit trusts................. 496 787 207 1,147 n.a. 658 176 1,644 

501(c)(18) Employee funded pension trusts.................................. 42 302 2 34 n.a. 18 *3 3 

501(c)(19) War veterans organizations......................................... 1,921 451 82 239 n.a. 18 62 219 

Other organizations, including (20)-(25)...................... 9,605 1,669 645 658 n.a. 167 170 583 

 1 The number of organizations reported for 2001 represents those organizations that filed a 2001 return with the Internal Revenue Service through the end of the 2003 calendar year.

 2 Estimates from 1975 are imputed from 1975 study; for this reason, detail does not add precisely to total.

 3 Less than $500,000. 

 * Estimate should be used with caution because of the small number of sample returns on which it is based.

 SOURCE: Special tabulation by Statistics of Income Division, IRS. Data for 1975 are from the 1975 SOI study. Data for 1995, subsection 501(c)(3) through (9) data are from the 1995 SOI study; 

all other data are from the IRS's administrative master file. Adjustments for inflation are based on the 2000 chain-type price index for the Gross Domestic Product, 

as published by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Eocnomic Analysis. Tax Year 2001 is the base year.
149 

Table 6.–Section 501(c)(3) Organizations Including Domestic Private Foundation Information Returns, and Exempt

Organization Business Income Tax Returns: Selected Financial Data, Selected Years 1975-2001

[Money amounts are in millions of dollars]

Item 1975 1985 1990 1995 1998 1999 2000 2001

(1) (1) (6) (11) (14) (15) (16) (17)

CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION

INFORMATION RETURNS [1]

Number of organizations on IRS masterfile*** 242,000* 334,900 449,777 578,309 677,132 711,240 752,270 794,309 

Number of returns filed.................................................... 82,048 106,449 141,757 180,931 207,272 211,615 230,159 240,569 

Total assets, book value [2]............................................. 257,802 423,544 697,315 1,143,079 1,351,541 1,453,675 1,562,536 1,631,719 

Total liabilities [2]............................................................. 86,328 186,390 321,984 512,383 459,188 481,444 539,367 611,390 

Total fund balance or net worth [2]................................... 237,155 171,474 375,331 630,696 892,353 972,232 1,023,169 1,020,329 

Total revenue................................................................... 268,390 128,650 435,567 663,371 752,044 800,676 866,208 896,974 

 Program service revenue [3]......................................... n.a. 167,893 306,899 443,052 502,832 518,111 579,081 630,817 

 Contributions, gifts, and grants..................................... 40,650 55,771 85,332 127,743 161,751 174,992 199,076 212,427 

 Membership dues and assessments............................. 3,751 3,629 5,016 6,148 6,952 6,331 6,660 7,239 

 Other ........................................................................... n.a. 40,975 38,320 86,428 80,508 101,242 81,392 46,491 

Total expenses................................................................ 121,763 244,214 409,447 604,645 684,566 714,487 796,434 862,721 

Excess of revenue over expenses (net)........................... 6,887 24,175 26,120 58,725 67,478 86,189 69,775 34,253 

DOMESTIC PRIVATE FOUNDATION 

INFORMATION RETURNS

Number of returns filed.................................................... 26,889 31,171 40,105 47,917 56,658 62,694 66,738 70,787 

 Nonoperating foundations............................................. n.a. 28,599 36,880 43,966 52,460 58,840 61,501 63,650 

 Operating foundations................................................... n.a. 2,571 3,226 3,951 4,198 3,854 5,238 7,137 

Total assets, book value [2]............................................. 25,514 71,394 122,412 195,570 325,672 384,565 409,524 413,577 

Total assets, fair market value [2].................................... n.a. 94,996 150,997 242,917 397,084 466,863 471,646 455,423 

 Investments in securities [2]......................................... 19,893** 73,294 114,969 190,739 317,900 363,442 361,418 329,353 

Total revenue................................................................... 16,193 3,263 19,006 30,814 59,735 83,286 72,780 45,264 

Total expenses................................................................ 3,188 7,141 11,285 17,189 25,902 33,876 37,434 36,661 

 Contributions, gifts, and grants paid [4]......................... 5,171 1,953 8,560 12,256 19,394 22,763 27,564 27,383 

Excess of revenue over expenses (net)........................... 75 9,053 7,721 13,626 33,833 49,410 35,346 8,602 

Net investment income [5]............................................... 1,514 9,995 11,931 20,355 39,313 57,142 48,830 25,719 

EXEMPT ORGANIZATION

UNRELATED BUSINESS

INCOME TAX RETURNS [6]

Number of returns, total................................................... n.a. n.a. 31,091 36,394 46,208 42,151 38,567 35,540 

 With unrelated business taxable income....................... n.a. n.a. 14,557 18,157 24,332 20,718 19,336 15,277 

 Without unrelated business taxable income.................. n.a. n.a. 16,534 18,237 21,876 21,433 19,231 20,264 

Gross unrelated business income.................................... n.a. n.a. 3,511 6,280 7,585 7,722 8,413 7,900 

Total deductions [7][8]..................................................... n.a. n.a. 3,513 5,787 6,484 6,835 7,703 7,883 

Unrelated business taxable income (less deficit) [8]......... n.a. n.a. -2 493 1,100 887 710 18 

 Unrelated business taxable income............................. n.a. n.a. 389 893 1,670 1,485 1,427 792 

 Deficit [7]..................................................................... n.a. n.a. 391 400 569 598 717 774 

Unrelated business income tax........................................ n.a. n.a. 99 277 506 423 406 226 

Total tax [9]...................................................................... n.a. n.a. 99 277 464 422 403 222 

* Estimate

**Book value

***Total number of active 501(c)(3) orgnizations on IRS masterfile minus a number of 501(c)(3) private foundations

n.a. - Not available

[1] Includes data reported by organizations described in Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3), excluding private foundations and most religious organizations.

Organizations with receipts under $25,000 were not required to file.

[2] Balance sheet data are end-of-year amounts.

[3] Represents fees collected by organizations in support of their tax-exempt purposes, and income such as tuition and fees at educational institutions, hospital patient charges,

and admission and activity fees collected by museums and other nonprofit organizations or institutions.

[4] The amounts of contributions, gifts, and grants shown reflects the amount actually disbursed, on a cash basis, for charitable purposes.

[5] Represents income not considered related to a foundation's charitable purpose, e.g., interest, dividends, and capital gains. Foundations could be subject to an excise tax on such income.

[6] Includes returns filed by or for entities described in Internal Revenue Code sections 401(a) (qualified pension, profit-sharing, or stock bonus plans), 408(e) (Individual Retirement Arrangements,

or IRA's), 408A (Roth IRA's), and 501(c)(2) through 501(c)(27) (charitable and most other types of tax-exempt organizations).

[7] Aggregate amounts of total deductions, unrelated business taxable income (less deficit), and deficit previously published in various issues of the Statistics of Income Bulletin have been adjusted

in Table 16 for years prior to 1999. The revisions were required to take into account certain adjustments made to reported amounts of the "net operating loss deduction." During processing of the SOI

sample of Tax Year 1999 returns, it was discovered that many Form 990 T filers were deducting the entire amount of any previous years' net operating loss carryover from net income (even when net

income was zero or negative), rathen than deducting only the part of the carryover amount needed to offset any positive net income amount. Entering the entire amount of the net operating

loss carryover, as opposed to entering only the appropriate deduction amount, did not affect a filer's unrelated business income tax liability, but it did inflate the amount of deficit reported.

Prior to 1992, organizations with gross unrelated business income of $10,000 or less were not required to report NOLD separately; therefore the adjusted amounts for 1990 and 1991

take into account only the larger organizations. If it had been possible to make adjustments for the smaller organizations, the amounts of total deductions and deficit would be somewhat

smaller, and the amount of unrelated business taxable income (less deficit) would be somewhat larger.

[8] Excludes cost of sales and services, which was subtracted from gross receipts from sales and services in computing gross profit from sales and services. Gross profit from sales and services is

a "gross unrelated business income" component of (upon which the filing requirement is based).

[9] Total tax was unrelated business income tax less the foreign tax credit, general business credit, credit for prior-year minimum tax, and other allowable credits, plus the "proxy tax" on certain

lobbying expenditures (applicable only to tax years after 1993), the tax from recomputing certain prior-year credits ("recapture taxes"), the "alternative minimum tax," and the environmental tax

(applicable only to tax years prior to 1996). Beginning with Income Year 2001, total tax also can include interest due, computed under the look-back method for certain depreciation

property and completed long-term contracts, and "other" taxes, as described by the return filer.
150 

Table 7.–Tax-Exempt Organizations and Other Entities Listed on the Exempt Organization Business Masteby Type of Organization and Internal Revenue Code Section, Selected Fiscal Years 1976-2004

Type of Organization, Internal Revenue Code Section 1976 1980 1985 1990 1995 1998 

 (1) Corporations organized under act of Congress ................................... n.a. 42 24 9 19 1

 

 (2) Title-holding corporations..................................................................... 5,114 5,358 5,758 6,278 7,025 7,12

 

 (3) Religious, charitable, and similar organizations [1,2]........................... 259,523 319,842 366,071 489,891 626,226 733,79

 

 (4) Social welfare organizations................................................................. 125,415 129,553 131,250 142,473 139,451 139,53

 

 (5) Labor and agriculture organizations..................................................... 87,412 85,774 75,632 71,653 66,662 64,80

 

 (6) Business leagues................................................................................. 41,120 48,717 54,217 65,896 75,695 79,86

 

 (7) Social and recreation clubs.................................................................. 47,820 51,922 57,343 62,723 65,501 66,69

 

 (8) Fraternal beneficiary societies.............................................................. 141,725 137,449 84,435 100,321 92,115 84,50

 

 (9) Voluntary employees' beneficiary associations.................................... 6,271 7,738 10,668 14,210 14,681 14,24

 

(10) Domestic fraternal beneficiary societies.............................................. 11,612 16,178 15,924 18,350 21,046 21,96

 

(11) Teachers' retirement funds.................................................................. 14 12 11 10 11 1

 

(12) Benevolent life insurance associations................................................ 4,685 4,945 5,244 5,873 6,291 6,42

 

(13) Cemetery companies........................................................................... 4,959 5,947 7,239 8,565 9,433 9,79

 

(14) State-chartered credit unions.............................................................. 4,686 5,639 6,032 6,352 5,225 4,37

 

(15) Mutual insurance companies............................................................... 1,454 1,140 967 1,137 1,185 1,25

 

(16) Corporations to finance crop operations.............................................. 30 22 18 19 23 2

 

(17) Supplemental unemployment benefit trusts........................................ 790 806 726 667 583 53

 

(18) Employee-funded pension trusts......................................................... 4 4 3 8 3 

 

(19) War veterans' organizations................................................................ 13,960 22,247 23,062 27,460 30,828 35,68

 

(20) Legal Services organizations [3].......................................................... n.a. 46 167 197 141 5

 

(21) Black Lung trusts................................................................................. n.a. - 15 22 25 2

 

(22) Multiemployer pension plans............................................................... n.a. n.a. n.a. 0 - - 

(23) Veteran's associations founded prior to 1880...................................... n.a. n.a. n.a. 2 2 

 

(24) Trusts described in Section 4049 of Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)................................................ n.a. n.a. n.a. 0 1 

 

(25) Holding companies for pensions and other entities............................. n.a. n.a. n.a. 107 638 1,01

 

[1] Not all Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) organizations are included because certain organizations, such as churches, integrated auxiliaries, subordinate units, and conventions or associatiapply for recognition of tax-exemption, unless they specifically request a ruling.[2] Includes private foundations.[3] Exemption for these organizations does not apply for taxable years beginning after June 30, 1992SOURCE: IRS Data Book, FY 2004, Publication 55b. Also, Tax Exempt and Government Entities, Exempt Organizations SE:T:EO.
151 

Table 8.–Selected SOI Financial Data for All Charitable Organizations, Hospitals, and

Colleges and Universities, 1995-2001

[All figures are estimates based on samples – Money amounts are in millions of dollars]

Item 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Sec. 501(c)(3) Organizations1

Number of returns filed.................................. 192,059 180,931 198,957 207,272 211,615 230,159 240,569 

Total assets, book value................................ 1,293,439 1,143,079 1,438,977 1,351,541 1,453,675 1,562,536 1,631,719 

Total liabilities................................................ 564,566 512,383 624,978 459,188 481,444 539,367 611,390 

Total fund balance or net worth...................... 728,873 630,696 813,998 892,353 972,232 1,023,169 1,020,329 

Total revenue................................................ 704,346 663,371 754,616 752,044 800,676 866,208 896,974 

 Program service revenue............................ 467,559 443,052 486,407 502,832 518,111 579,081 630,817 

 Contributions, gifts, and grants................... 137,666 127,743 146,171 161,751 174,992 199,076 212,427 

 Membership dues and assessments........... 6,347 6,148 6,823 6,952 6,331 6,660 7,239 

 Other ......................................................... 86,428 92,774 115,215 80,508 101,242 81,392 46,491 

Total expenses.............................................. 637,917 604,645 677,143 684,566 714,487 796,434 862,721 

Excess of revenue over expenses (net)......... 66,429 58,725 77,473 67,478 86,189 69,775 34,253 

Sec. 501(c)(3) Hospitals2

Number of returns filed.................................. n.a.. 3,581 3,425 3,574 3,418 3,905 3,961 

Total assets, book value................................ 341,288 346,220 367,571 410,898 403,361 452,798 473,925 

Total liabilities................................................ 162,173 161,251 174,307 201,469 196,552 222,211 239,978 

Total fund balance or net worth...................... 179,115 184,969 193,264 209,429 206,809 230,587 233,947 

Total revenue................................................ 282,659 284,251 290,330 314,448 314,361 350,855 374,414 

 Program service revenue............................ 260,451 260,454 265,750 289,180 287,986 324,169 349,775 

 Contributions, gifts, and grants................... 6,283 7,932 6,371 6,976 7,487 9,505 10,707 

 Membership dues and assessments........... 102 111 259 175 137 145 215 

 Other ......................................................... 15,754 15,823 17,950 18,117 18,751 17,036 13,717 

Total expenses.............................................. 266,940 267,279 274,733 304,315 306,951 339,086 364,549 

Excess of revenue over expenses (net)......... 15,719 16,972 15,597 10,133 7,410 11,769 9,865 

Sec. 501(c)(3) Colleges

Universities2

Number of returns filed.................................. n.a.. 1,404 1,249 1,386 1,567 1,620 1,374 

Total assets, book value................................ 219,323 233,399 256,054 270,249 293,752 301,571 344,657 

Total liabilities................................................ 50,950 47,155 55,382 57,831 60,950 67,909 98,396 

Total fund balance or net worth...................... 172,168 182,449 200,672 212,418 232,802 233,662 246,261 

Total revenue................................................ 93,359 82,461 93,665 92,037 105,855 102,650 98,837 

 Program service revenue............................ 47,139 49,585 50,451 51,475 53,432 58,146 63,257 

 Contributions, gifts, and grants................... 19,362 25,067 22,629 23,560 25,412 26,175 27,133 

 Membership dues and assessments........... 106 220 106 114 110 87 12 

 Other ......................................................... 18,487 15,854 20,479 16,888 26,901 18,242 8,435 

Total expenses.............................................. 75,549 67,572 73,664 76,432 79,837 86,708 94,840 

Excess of revenue over expenses (net)......... 14,889 17,810 20,001 15,605 26,018 15,942 3,997 

 n.a.. - Not available.

1 Includes data reported on Forms 990 and 990-EZ by organizations described in Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3), excluding private foundations

 and most religious organizations. Organizations with receipts under $25,000 were not required to file.

2 Section 501(c)(3) Hospitals and colleges and universities are those organizations designated as “E2” and “B4,” respectively, under the National

 Taxonomy of Exempt Organizations developed by the National Center for Charitable Statistics.

SOURCE: Special tabulation by Statistics of Income Division, IRS.
152 

Table 9.–Section 501(c)(3) Charitable Organizations, Not Including Private Foundation or Churches

or Other NonFilers by Size of Total Assets and Total Revenue, 1988, 1995, 2001

[Dollars in Thousands of Current Dollars]

Item Returns Assets Fund Balance Revenues

Size of Total Assets

TOTAL 124,233 583,573,213 583,573,207 354,646,576

Under $100,000............................................................... 1,673,388 50,471 1,673,382 6,000,674 

$100,000 thousand - $500,000 thousand........................ 8,232,707 34,415 8,232,706 12,521,421 

$500,000 thousand - $1 million....................................... 11,475 8,205,085 8,205,086 9,006,480 

$1 million - $10 million..................................................... 21,457 66,130,508 66,130,508 50,202,763 

$10 million - $50 million................................................... 4,461 99,037,586 99,037,586 64,867,216 

$50 million or more.......................................................... 1,954 400,293,939 400,293,940 212,048,022 

Size of Total Assets

TOTAL 142,790 1,141,409,405 629,320,342 661,584,177

Under $100,000............................................................... 1,592,783 41,279 942,883 7,509,849 

$100,000 thousand - $500,000 thousand........................ 10,333,700 40,125 6,571,903 17,492,516 

$500,000 thousand - $1 million....................................... 17,920 12,582,143 8,719,143 12,506,722 

$1 million - $10 million..................................................... 33,794 105,334,649 65,212,280 97,695,478 

$10 million - $50 million................................................... 6,574 143,047,564 88,717,831 94,588,521 

$50 million or more.......................................................... 3,098 868,518,566 459,156,301 432,241,090 

Size of Total Assets

TOTAL 193,953 1,629,617,136 1,018,428,309 894,813,218

Under $100,000............................................................... 2,078,437 51,402 1,181,327 9,739 

$100,000 thousand - $500,000 thousand........................ 14,212,424 55,919 10,766,553 20,592,658 

$500,000 thousand - $1 million....................................... 23,638 17,072,937 12,426,082 21,369,415 

$1 million - $10 million..................................................... 48,643 154,987,931 98,783,084 129,764,537 

$10 million - $50 million................................................... 9,847 210,987,892 129,052,960 135,024,146 

$50 million or more.......................................................... 4,504 1,230,277,515 766,218,302 578,323,027 

SOURCE: Complied from IRS website: www.irs.gov/taxstats/charitablestats/soi: tables 88_is&bs_x_assets.xls, 01_is&bs_x_assets.xls; also, from IRS, SOI Bulletin , 

Winter 1998/1999, Publication 36.Rev 2199, Table 1.

1988

2001

1995
153 

Table 10.–Charitable Deductions in 2000 Dollars

Year 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1999 2000 

Individual Income Tax Returns

[All figures are estimates based on samples moneyamounts are in thousands of dollars]

Itemized Deductions: Charitable Deductions: Number of Retuns:........................................... 24,642,672 26,601,428 36,162,178 29,230,265 30,540,637 35,523,471 37,524,825  Amount............................................................. 40,501,305 47,740,757 68,789,582 70,138,404 81,410,757 128,538,999 140,681,631 Corporate Income Tax Returns:

[All figures are estimates based on samples moneyamounts are in thousands of dollars]

 Total Deductions: Number of Retuns:........................................... 575,240 400,877 493,490 472,326 443,071  Contributions of Gifts:....................................... 3,162,917 4,362,684 6,413,482 5,823,028 8,061,191 10,965,947 10,657,214 Total Corporate and Individual Giving........................Contributions.............................................................. 43,664,222 52,103,440 75,203,064 75,961,432 89,471,948 139,504,946 151,338,845 

.

[1] Dollar amounts are in 2000 dollars using price index for gross domestic product. Calculations provided by the JCT staff.
154

Table 11.–Long-Term Private Activity Bonds, by Purpose of Bond and Type and Year of Issue, 1988-1995

[Money amounts are in millions of dollars]

Year 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 

New Money Issues

[1] Section 501(c)(3) Hospital................................. 3,382 4,626 5,314 8,508 6,873 6,070 4,632 

[2] Other Section 501(c)(3)..................................... 4,323 5,748 5,781 5,377 5,672 4,687 4,854 

Total Item [1] and [2] 10,374 7,705 11,095 13,885 12,545 10,757 9,486 

SOURCE: IRS, SOI Bulletin, Summer 1999, vol.13, no.1, Publication 1136, “Tax Exempt Private Activity bonds, 1988-1995,” Table 2.
155 

V. ADVANTAGES OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS FOR SECTION 501(C)(3) 

ORGANIZATIONS AND SUMMARY OF CRS REPORT 

Tax benefits – in general

The most obvious benefit enjoyed by organizations described in section 501(c)(3) is the 

exemption from Federal income tax.531 Federal tax exemption also may provide exemption from 

certain Federal excise and employment taxes and relief from State and local taxes, such as 

corporate income tax and property tax exemptions. In some cases, the exemption from local 

taxes may equal or exceed the financial benefit derived from the Federal exemption. 

In general, a deduction for a charitable contribution made to organizations described in 

section 501(c)(3) is permitted.532 In computing taxable income, a taxpayer who itemizes 

deductions generally is allowed to deduct the amount of cash and the fair market value of 

property contributed to an organization described in section 501(c)(3). Within certain 

limitations, donors also are entitled to deduct their contributions to section 501(c)(3) 

organizations for Federal estate and gift tax purposes. 

State and local governments may act as conduits to provide tax-exempt financing for 

limited activities conducted and paid for by nongovernmental entities or individuals, including 

for the exempt activities of section 501(c)(3) organizations.533 Accordingly, section 501(c)(3) 

organizations have access to tax-exempt financing through State and local governments.534 This 

generally does not include financing for unrelated business activities of such organizations.535 

Tax-exempt organizations other than section 501(c)(3) organizations generally must satisfy 

requirements generally applicable to nongovernmental entities or individuals in order to obtain 

tax-exempt financing. 

Non-tax benefits and CRS Report

Section 501(c)(3) organizations also may receive a variety of nontax benefits as a result 

of their Federal exemption or, more generally, their operation as nonprofit organizations. For 

example, various provisions of Federal securities laws do not apply to organizations described in 

 531 Sec. 501(a). 

532 Deductions for charitable contributions to certain organizations other than section 501(c)(3) 

organizations are permitted. For example, deductible contributions may be made to governmental entities 

for exclusively public purposes; a post or organization of war veterans; a domestic fraternal society (sec. 

501(c)(8)) exclusively for religious, charitable scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or for the 

prevention of cruelty to children or animals; and cemetery companies (sec. 501(c)(13)). Sec. 170(c). 

533 Sec. 145. 

534 See Table 11, Part IV, for volume of tax-exempt debt issued on behalf of section 501(c)(3) 

organizations for the period 1988-1995.

535 Sec. 145(a). 
156 

section 501(c)(3).536 Another example is the exemption from Federal and State consumer 

protection laws afforded certain section 501(c)(3) organizations.537 Another advantage is the 

exemption that an organization may have from price discrimination laws under the RobinsonPatman Act.538

The bankruptcy code distinguishes nonprofit and forprofit organizations and provides that 

a nonprofit corporation may not be forced into involuntary liquidation or reorganization.539 

Another significant financial benefit enjoyed by some nonprofit organizations is the preferential 

postal rates for nonprofits.540 

On November 15, 2004, the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (“Joint Committee 

staff”) requested the Congressional Research Service (“CRS”) to examine the various nontax 

Federal and State legal benefits associated with an organization being described in section 

501(c)(3) of the Code. With respect to a report on State benefits, Joint Committee staff 

requested that CRS limit its review to five States, California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, 

and Pennsylvania. 

On February 22, 2005, CRS submitted a report541 to the Joint Committee staff describing 

its findings. CRS included in its report nontax benefits provided to nonprofit charitable 

organizations, a group that is potentially broader than organizations specifically described in 

section 501(c)(3). CRS grouped its findings with respect to nontax benefits for nonprofit 

charitable organizations into four general categories as follows: (1) exemption from a provision 

of law; (2) special rules applicable to nonprofit charitable organizations under various 

provisions; (3) eligibility to receive property or non-grant money by virtue of nonprofit status; 

and (4) eligibility to participate in a program (i.e., generally, the organization is eligible to 

receive grants). For each of these four categories, CRS listed and briefly described the 

applicable Federal and State statutes pertaining to the nontax benefits. Each of these categories 

is described more fully below. 

 536 See 15 U.S.C. secs. 77b, 77c, 78c, 80a-3. 

537 Section 501(c)(3) organizations are exempt from restrictions imposed on credit repair 

organizations under 15 U.S.C. sec. 1679. 

538 15 U.S.C. sec. 13. 

539 11 U.S.C. sec. 303(a). 

540 United States Postal Serv., Domestic Mail Manual sec. 424.121. 

541 See Appendix, Congressional Research Service, Non-Tax Benefits Provided to Organizations 

Described in Section 501(c)(3) (February 2005). 
157 

Summary of CRS findings

Exemption from a provision of law

With respect to nontax benefits where an organization is exempt from a provision of law, 

there were a total of 150 benefits, broken down as follows: Federal government (14); California 

(26); Florida (23); Massachusetts (33); New York (25); and Pennsylvania (29). The exemptions 

from a provision of law were significant in nature in that certain exemptions were provided from 

consumer protection and securities laws. Notable examples of exemptions include (1) a Federal 

statute542 exempting from the definition of investment company, any company organized and 

operated exclusively for religious educational, benevolent, fraternal, charitable, or reformatory 

purposes if no part of its earnings inures to the benefit of a private shareholder or individual; (2) 

a Federal statute543 exempting from the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse 

Prevention Act telemarketers calling to solicit charitable contributions; (3) a Florida statute544

exempting securities from a registration requirement if the securities are issued by a corporation 

organized and operated exclusively for religious, benevolent, fraternal, charitable, or reformatory 

purposes and not for pecuniary profit, if no part of its net earnings inures to the benefit of a 

private stockholder or individual; and (4) a New York statute545 exempting nonprofit 

corporations and charitable organizations from the registration and bonding requirements in the 

Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act. 

Special rules

With respect to nontax benefits where an organization benefits from a special rule other 

than exemption from the provision, there were a total of 149 benefits, broken down as follows: 

Federal government (17); California (30); Florida (29); Massachusetts (27); New York (20); and 

Pennsylvania (26). The special rules provided under Federal and State laws were varied in 

nature ranging from special licenses granted to charitable organizations to sell certain products, 

to life insurance contracts whereby a charitable organization could acquire a life insurance 

contract for an individual and designate itself as the beneficiary. Notable examples of such 

special rules include (1) a California statute546 providing that a nonprofit charitable organization 

or food bank that receives and distributes food without charge that is fit for human consumption 

at the time it was distributed is not liable for any injury or death due to the food, unless the injury 

or death is a direct result of the negligent, reckless or intentional misconduct of the organization; 

(2) a Florida statute547 permitting charitable organizations to claim dead bodies; and (3) a 

 542 See 15 U.S.C. sec. 80a-3. 

543 See 16 C.F.R. sec. 310.6. 

544 See Fla. Stat. sec. 517.051. 

545 See NY General Business Law sec. 399-pp. 

546 See Cal. Civil Code sec. 1714.25. 

547 See Fla. Stat. Chapter 406. 
158 

Pennsylvania statute548 permitting a township to occupy streets, roads or highways and destroy 

private property for the regulation, protection and extension of a water distribution system; 

however, property belonging to or used as a cemetery or a place of public worship, public or 

parochial school, or educational or charitable institution or seminary may not be taken, injured or 

destroyed. 

Eligibility to receive property or non-grant money

With respect to nontax benefits where an organization is eligible to receive property or 

non-grant money, there were a total of 64 benefits, broken down as follows: Federal government 

(14); California (16); Florida (11); Massachusetts (9); New York (5); and Pennsylvania (9). As 

compared with the other categories of nontax benefits examined, this category of nontax benefits 

was smaller in number and the nontax benefits were not as significant in nature. Notable 

examples of organizations receiving property or non-grant money include (1) a Federal statute549

permitting section 501(c)(3) organizations to receive gifts and decorations that were previously 

given to Members of the Senate or employees of the Senate and are now being disposed of; (2) a 

California statute550 permitting the distribution to nonprofit charitable organizations of property 

that was forfeited when used in committing telecommunications or computer fraud; and (3) a 

Massachusetts statute551 permitting the Massachusetts Parking Authority to donate lost or 

abandoned property worth less than $3 to charitable organizations. 

Eligibility to participate in a program

With respect to nontax benefits where an organization is eligible to participate in a 

program, there were a total of 136 benefits, broken down as follows: Federal government (33); 

California (44); Florida (20); Massachusetts (5); New York (22); and Pennsylvania (12). The 

nontax benefits provided for the Federal and State programs were similar in nature ranging from 

grants given to section 501(c)(3) organizations to acquire interests in land suitable for purposes 

of conservation to grants for job training programs. 

 548 See 53 P.S. sec. 57703. 

549 See 5 U.S.C. sec. 7342. 

550 See Cal. Penal Code sec. 502.01. 

551 See ALM Spec L ch. S71, sec. 14A. 
159

VI. DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS 

In general

What follows is a survey of the types of exempt entities, in which the primary purpose, 

the legislative history, the tax treatment, and basic information about an organization is provided. 

As the survey shows, there is no overriding principle explaining tax exempt status. Instead, 

organizations may be grouped into broad categories, such as government entities, member-type 

organizations, or cooperative organizations, and described accordingly. The survey includes all 

types of exempt entities, including savings accounts and pension plans. All such entities are 

included in order to provide a glimpse at the breadth of the meaning of “exempt status.” 

Organizations described are those in sections 115, 220, 223, 401(a), 408(e), 457(g), 501(c), 

501(d), 501(e), 501(f), 501(k), 501(n), 516, 526-530, and 7871. Unless otherwise indicated, each 

of the entities described below generally is exempt from Federal income tax, but is subject to tax 

on unrelated business taxable income.552 To the extent a type of exempt organization is subject 

to special unrelated business income tax rules, this is noted in the description. Otherwise, the 

unrelated business income tax rules are not discussed. For an overview of some of the rules 

generally applicable to exempt organizations, see Part I.C. of this pamphlet. 

Charitable organizations

Section 501(c)(3) organizations

The tax exemption for charitable organizations dates to 1894.553 Unlike most other 

exempt organizations, charitable organizations are eligible to receive tax deductible 

contributions.554 A charitable organization must operate primarily in pursuance of one or more 

tax-exempt purposes constituting the basis of its tax exemption.555 The Code specifies such 

purposes as religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational 

purposes, or to foster international amateur sports competition, or for the prevention of cruelty to 

children or animals. In general, the requirements for charitable status are that: (1) the 

organization must be organized and operated exclusively for certain purposes, including by 

assuring that the assets are dedicated to exempt purposes in perpetuity; (2) there must not be 

private inurement to organization insiders; (3) there must be no more than an incidental private 

 552 Secs. 511-514. 

553 Tariff Act of 1894, sec. 32, 28 Stat. 509 (ruled unconstitutional); 1909 Revenue Act, sec. 38, 

36 Stat. 11; sec. 501(c)(3). 

554 Certain organizations described elsewhere within section 501, namely cooperative hospital 

service organizations (sec. 501(e)), cooperative service organizations of operating educational 

organizations (sec. 501(f)), child care organizations (sec. 501(k)), and charitable risk pools (sec. 501(n)), 

are treated as charitable organizations described within section 501(c)(3) and as described below 

generally are subject to their own organizational and operational requirements.

555 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(c)(1). 
160

benefit to private persons who are not organization insiders; (4) no substantial part of the 

organization’s activities may be lobbying; and (5) the organization may not participate or 

intervene in political activities. In addition to satisfying each of these requirements, an 

organization’s purpose must not be contrary to public policy.556 The requirements of section 

501(c)(3) charitable organizations are described in greater detail in Part II.B of this pamphlet. 

Cooperative hospital service organizations

Since 1968, qualifying cooperative hospital service organizations are treated as charitable 

organizations, including for charitable contribution purposes.557 A cooperative hospital service 

organization must be organized and operated solely for two or more exempt member hospitals 

and must be organized and operated on a cooperative basis. Certain services on a centralized 

basis must be performed for members. These services include: (1) data processing; (2) 

purchasing (including the purchasing of insurance on a group basis); (3) warehousing; (4) billing 

and collection (including the purchase of patron accounts receivable on a recourse basis); (5) 

food; (6) clinical; (7) industrial engineering;558 (8) laboratory; (9) printing; (10) communications; 

(11) records center; and (12) personnel services (including selection, testing, training and 

education of personnel). To qualify, these services must constitute exempt activities if 

performed on its own behalf by a participating hospital.559

Cooperative service organizations of educational institutions

Since 1974, cooperative service organizations operating educational organizations are 

treated as charitable organizations, including for charitable contribution purposes.560 These 

organizations must be organized and controlled by and composed solely of members that are 

private or public educational institutions.561 In addition, they must be organized and operated 

solely to hold, commingle, and collectively invest and reinvest (including arranging for and 

 556 See Bob Jones University v. United States, 461 U.S. 574 (1983). 

557 The Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968, Pub. L. No. 90-364 (1968), sec. 109(a), 

82 Stat. 251; sec. 501(e). Prior to 1968, the IRS considered such organizations to be feeder organizations 

disqualified for exempt status under section 502. Exemption was granted because such organizations 

were viewed as increasing the efficiency and services of hospitals and enabling hospitals to conduct 

charitable services at lower cost. See James J. McGovern, The Exemption Provisions of Subchapter F, 29 

Tax Lawyer 523, 543 (1976) (hereinafter “McGovern”) (citing Bromberg, The Effect of Tax Policy on the 

Delivery and Cost of Health Care, 53 Taxes 452, 455-59 (1975)). 

558 Rev. Rul. 74-443, 1974-2 C.B. 159. 

559 Rev. Rul. 69-633, 1969-2 C.B. 121. 

560 Sec. 501(f). 

561 Organizations for this purpose are ones defined in sections 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) or (b)(1)(A)(iv) 

(i.e., schools, colleges and organizations administering property for the benefit of certain governmentsupported colleges and universities). 
161

supervising the performance by independent contractors of investment services), in stocks and 

securities, the monies contributed to it by each of the members of the organization, and to collect 

income from the investments and turn over the entire amount, less expenses, to its members. 

Although this type of organization is not permitted to invest in assets other than stock and other 

securities, a taxable subsidiary may be used to make these investments.562

The exemption was enacted to forestall the contemplated revocation by the IRS of the 

tax-exempt status of The Common Fund, a cooperative arrangement formed by a large group of 

colleges and universities for the collective investment of their funds. The IRS determined that 

The Common Fund could not provide investment services to members at substantially below 

cost and regarded this factor as a ground for the disqualification of tax exempt status.563 

Congress responded and clarified that cooperative arrangements for investments of the type 

typified by the Common Fund are eligible for exemption as charitable entities. 

Child care organizations

Since 1984, certain organizations that provide for the care of children away from their 

homes are treated as charitable organizations, including for charitable contribution purposes.564 

Specifically, an organization that provides such child care services is treated as educational under 

section 501(c)(3) if: (1) substantially all of the care provided by the organization is for purposes 

of enabling individuals to be gainfully employed, and (2) the services provided by the 

organization are available to the general public.565

Because the services of a section 501(k) child care organization must be made available 

to the general public, the organization cannot be racially discriminatory.566 In addition, a child 

care organization that provides a preference for children of a particular employer will not be 

treated as making its services available to the general public and thus is not described in section 

501(k).567 An organization that gives a preference to children of a particular employer may 

nevertheless qualify for exemption under section 501(c)(3) if it qualifies as charitable other than 

by being educational, for example, by lessening the burdens of government.568 

 562 Gen. Couns. Mem. 39776 (February 6, 1989). 

563 See S. Rep. No. 888, 93d Cong. 2d Sess. 2-3 (1974). 

564 Pub. L. No. 98-369, sec. 1032(a) (1934). 

565 Sec. 501(k). 

566 Gen. Couns. Mem. 39757 (October 11, 1988). 

567 Gen. Couns. Mem. 39613 (January 28, 1987). 

568 See id.; Treas. Reg. sec. 1-501(c)(3)-1(d)(2). 
162

Charitable risk pools

Since 1996, there has been an exemption for qualified charitable risk pools, which are 

treated as charitable organizations, including for charitable contribution purposes.569 A qualified 

charitable risk pool is an entity that is organized and operated solely to pool insurable risks of its 

members (other than medical malpractice risks) and to provide information to its members with 

respect to loss control and risk management. Only charitable tax-exempt organizations described 

in section 501(c)(3) may be members of a qualified charitable risk pool. 

To qualify for tax-exempt status, a charitable risk pool must (1) be organized as a 

nonprofit organization under State law provisions authorizing risk pooling for charitable 

organizations; (2) be exempt from State income tax; (3) be able to obtain at least one million in 

start-up capital from non-member charitable organizations;570 (4) be controlled by a board of 

directors elected by its members; and (5) provide in its organizational documents that members 

must be tax-exempt charitable organizations at all times. The organizational documents of a 

qualified charitable risk pool must also require any member that loses its status as a section 

501(c)(3) organization to notify the pool immediately. In addition, the organizational documents 

must require that each insurance policy issued by the organization provide that it will not cover 

an insured with respect to events occurring after the date of any final determination that the 

member no longer qualifies as a tax-exempt charitable organization. 

An otherwise qualified charitable risk pool will not forfeit its tax-exempt status simply 

because one of its members ceases to qualify as a section 501(c)(3) organization. The pool must 

take measures to remove the non-qualifying member within a reasonable period of time. 

Social welfare organizations, labor organizations, and business leagues

Social welfare organizations

Since 1913, there has been a tax exemption for civic leagues or organizations not 

organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, and no part of 

the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.571 The 

basis for the exemption may be from 1913 hearings before the Senate Finance Committee, 

 569 Sec. 501(n); Pub. L. No. 104-191 (1996). 

570 A nonmember charitable organization is a tax-exempt organization described in section 

501(c)(3), which is not a member of the risk pool and does not benefit, directly or indirectly, from the 

insurance coverage provided by the pool to its members. Sec. 501(n)(4)(B). 

571 Tariff Act of 1913, ch. 16, sec. 11(G)(a), 38 Stat. 172; sec. 501(c)(4). The private inurement 

prohibition was enacted in 1996. Exemption under section 501(c)(4) also includes exemption for certain 

local associations of employees meeting certain membership requirements. This exemption was 

introduced in 1924. Revenue Act of 1924, ch. 234, sec. 231(8), 43 Stat. 282. 
163

during which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sought exemption for “civic or commercial” 

organizations.572 

An organization is operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare if it is 

engaged primarily in promoting in some way the common good and general welfare of the 

people of a community.573 For example: 

• A nonprofit firefighters’ association that provides firefighters with retirement 

benefits, which are funded by government sources and which are the exclusive 

retirement benefits provided to these firefighters, qualifies for exemption as a 

social welfare organization.574 

• An organization that provides and maintains free off-street parking to anyone 

visiting a city’s downtown business district qualifies for exemption as a social 

welfare organization.575

• A nonprofit organization formed to represent the public interest at legislative and 

administrative hearings on tax matters qualifies for exemption as a social welfare 

organization.576

The promotion of social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or 

intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public 

office; however, social welfare organizations are permitted to engage in political activity so long 

as it is not the organization’s primary activity. The lobbying activities of a social welfare 

organization generally are not limited. An organization is not operated primarily for the 

promotion of social welfare if its primary activity is operating a social club for the benefit, 

pleasure, or recreation of its members, or is carrying on a business with the general public in a 

manner similar to organizations that are operated for profit. 

The concept of “social welfare” for purposes of section 501(c)(4) overlaps considerably 

with the definition of “charitable” under section 501(c)(3). As a result, many organizations 

could qualify for exemption under either section.577 However, an organization’s choice between 

 572 Hearings on Tariff Schedules of the Revenue Act of 1913 Before the Subcommitte on the 

Committee on Finance, 63d Cong., 1st Sess., at 2001 (1913). See McGovern, at 530. 

573 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(4)-1(a)(2). 

574 Rev. Rul. 87-126, 1987-2 C.B. 150. 

575 Rev. Rul. 81-116, 1981-1 C.B. 333. 

576 Rev. Rul. 71-530, 1971-2 C.B. 237. 

577 The regulations under both sections recognize an overlap in exempt purposes. See Treas. 

Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(d)(2) (definition of “charitable” for purposes of section 501(c)(3) includes the 

promotion of social welfare); Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(4) (providing that a social welfare organization 
164

social welfare status and charitable status will result in different benefits and burdens. For 

example, a donor to a charitable organization may take a charitable deduction, whereas a donor 

to a social welfare organization may not take a charitable deduction. As a result, charitable 

organizations are generally viewed as having an advantage in attracting contributions. 

On the other hand, social welfare organizations have greater operational flexibility than 

charitable organizations. For example, whereas social welfare organizations may engage in an 

unlimited amount of lobbying without jeopardizing their exempt status, charitable organizations 

may engage in only a limited amount of lobbying.578 In addition, while social welfare 

organizations may engage in political campaign activity so long as it is not a primary activity of 

the organization, charitable organizations are prohibited from engaging in any political campaign 

activity.579 Social welfare organizations need not, but may, seek formal IRS recognition of 

exempt status, whereas charitable organizations are required to file an application for recognition 

of exemption.580

Labor, agricultural, or horticultural organizations

Since 1909, there has been a tax exemption for certain labor, agricultural,581 or 

horticultural organizations,582 no part of the net earnings of which inure to the benefit of any 

member. Such organizations must have as their objects the betterment of the conditions of those 

engaged in such pursuits, the improvement of the grade of their products, and the development of 

a higher degree of efficiency in their respective occupations.583 Labor unions are the typical 

example of a labor organization. Other examples include: 

• A local association of farmers, formed to promote more effective agricultural pest 

control, that employs pest management scouts who periodically inspect members’ 

 

will qualify for exemption as a charitable organization if it falls within the definition of “charitable” under 

section 501(c)(3) and meets certain other requirements). 

578 Compare sec. 501(c)(3) and Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(3)-1(c)(3) with sec. 501(c)(4). 

579 Compare sec. 501(c)(3) with sec. 501(c)(4) and Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(4)-1(a)(2)(ii). 

580 Sec. 508(a). 

581 In 1976, the term “agricultural” was defined as including “the art or science of cultivating 

land, harvesting crops or aquatic resources, or raising livestock.” Sec. 501(g). 

582 1909 Revenue Act, sec. 38, 36 Stat. 11; sec. 501(c)(5). 

583 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(5)-1(a). Labor unions lobbied for a specific exemption from a 1909 

excise tax on insurance companies, won full exemption from the 1909 excise tax, and exemption from the 

income tax introduced in 1913. McGovern notes that the record is silent regarding the rationale for 

exemption for agricultural and horticultural organizations stating that their exemption likely was 

introduced in conference prior to the 1913 Act “and may represent a legislative attempt not to 

discriminate against various sectors of the economy.” See McGovern, at 530-31. 
165

fields, identify and count agricultural pests, and compile data on agricultural pest 

infestation qualifies for exemption under section 501(c)(5).584

• An organization whose members are exempt labor unions representing public 

employees and which is primarily engaged in supporting litigation activities, 

proper for any one of its member unions, directed to the betterment of conditions 

for public employees qualifies for exemption under section 501(c)(5).585 

• A local association of diary farmers that participated in the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s National Cooperative Dairy Herd Improvement Program qualifies 

as a tax-exempt agricultural organization.586 

• A garden club that published a monthly journal, reported new developments in 

horticultural products to its members, and encouraged the development of new 

products though provision of awards was a horticultural organization.587

An organization generally is not exempt under this provision if its principal activity is to 

receive, hold, invest, disburse, or otherwise manage funds associated with savings or investment 

plans or programs, including pension or other retirement savings plans or programs.588 

Contributions to labor, agricultural, and horticultural organizations are not deductible as 

charitable contributions. However, such payments may be deductible as business expenses if 

they are ordinary and necessary in the conduct of the taxpayer’s trade or business. 

Business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards, boards of trade, or 

professional football leagues

Since 1913, there has been a tax exemption for business leagues and certain other 

organizations not organized for profit, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit 

of any private shareholder or individual.589 As with social welfare organizations, the basis for 

the exemption may be from 1913 hearings before the Senate Finance Committee, during which 

the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sought exemption for “civic or commercial” organizations.590 

 584 Rev. Rul. 81-59, 1981-1 C.B. 334. 

585 Rev. Rul. 74-596, 1974-2 C.B. 167. 

586 Rev. Rul. 74-518, 1974-2 C.B. 166, clarifying Rev. Rul. 70-372, 1970-2 C.B. 118. 

587 Rev. Rul. 66-179, 1966-1 C.B. 139. 

588 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(5)-1(b). 

589 Tariff Act of 1913, ch. 16, sec. 11(G)(a), 38 Stat. 172; sec. 501(c)(6). 

590 Hearings on Tariff Schedules of the Revenue Act of 1913 Before the Subcommitte on the 

Committee on Finance, 63d Cong., 1st Sess., at 2001 (1913). See McGovern, at 530. 
166

A business league is an association of persons having some common business interest, 

the purpose of which is to promote such common interest and not to engage in a regular business 

of a kind ordinarily carried on for profit.591 Such an organization may not have as its primary 

activity performing “particular services” for members.592 Contributions to these types of 

organizations are not deductible as charitable contributions, however, they may be deductible as 

trade or business expenses if ordinary and necessary in the conduct of the taxpayer’s business. 

Many organizations known as “trade associations” may qualify for exempt status under this 

provision. For example, an organization that promotes the commercial fishing industry in a 

particular State by publishing information about advances in the industry and other information 

of common interest to fishermen in the State qualifies as a trade association under section 

501(c)(6).593 Other examples are: 

• A trust, which was created pursuant to collective bargaining agreements between 

a labor union and several business leagues for the purposes of monitoring and 

coordinating business league activities of its member business leagues and 

collecting, administering, and disbursing funds to the member business leagues 

for business league purposes, is exempt as a business league under section 

501(c)(6).594

• A nonprofit organization, formed by a city’s civic leaders, public officials, 

businessmen, and representatives of the community-at-large to encourage 

conventions of national organizations in the city by making arrangements for 

facilities, services, and administrative support necessary to run a convention, 

qualifies for exemption under section 501(c)(6).595

Unrelated business income tax treatment

A few special unrelated business income tax rules apply. Certain required annual dues of 

agricultural and horticultural organizations are not treated as unrelated trade or business income 

regardless of whether those dues relate to benefits or privileges to which members of such 

organizations are entitled.596 In addition, like charitable organizations, social welfare 

organizations, labor organizations, agricultural organizations, and horticultural organizations (but 

not business leagues), are subject to special rules regarding income from certain activities of fairs 

 591 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(6)-1. 

592 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(6)-1. 

593 Rev. Rul. 75-287, 1975-2 C.B. 211. 

594 Rev. Rul. 82-138, 1982-2 C.B. 106. 

595 Rev. Rul. 76-207, 1976-1 C.B. 158. 

596 Sec. 512(d). 
167

and exhibitions.597 Those same organizations and business leagues are subject to special rules 

regarding income from qualified convention and trade show activities.598

Affiliations with charitable organizations

Oftentimes, an exempt organization will establish an affiliation or relationship with an 

organization that is also exempt from tax, but under a different section of the Code. For 

example, it is not uncommon for a social welfare organization exempt from tax under section 

501(c)(4) to have a relationship, whether through overlapping boards of directors, ownership of 

membership interests, or otherwise, with a charitable organization exempt from tax under section 

501(c)(3). Under such circumstances, the charitable organization may choose to conduct exempt 

educational activities, while its affiliated social welfare organization engages in lobbying 

activities to an extent greater than would be allowed if performed directly by the charitable 

organization. 

Also common are affiliations between charitable organizations and section 501(c)(6) 

business leagues. For example, business leagues sometimes choose to establish related 

charitable organizations to engage in educational or charitable activities and that are eligible to 

receive deductible charitable contributions. 

Such affiliations are generally structured to ensure legal separation of the related 

entities599 and thereby to avoid attribution of the activities of one affiliated organization to its 

related organization for purposes of determining whether the related organization continues to 

qualify for exempt status. If, for example, affiliated charitable and social welfare organizations 

are so closely aligned that each is considered the alter ego of the other, the IRS could attribute 

the lobbying activities of the social welfare organization to the charitable organization for 

purposes of determining whether the charitable organization has engaged in excess lobbying 

activities such as could jeopardize its exempt status. Similar attribution issues could arise in the 

case of an affiliation between a business league and a charitable organization. 

Governmental entities

Income of States, municipalities, other governments

In 1913, Congress specifically provided for exemption for entities that perform an 

essential governmental function.600 The exemption applies to (1) income derived from any 

public utility or the exercise of any essential governmental function and accruing to a State or 

 597 Sec. 513(d). 

598 Id. 

599 See Moline Properties, Inc. v. Commissioner, 319 U.S. 436 (1943). 

600 Sec. 115. Separately, the constitutional doctrine of intergovernmental tax immunity generally 

provides that the Federal government will not tax the States. 
168

any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia; or (2) income accruing to the 

government of any possession of the United States, or any political subdivision thereof. 

Whether activities involve the exercise of an “essential governmental function” is 

generally decided on a case-by-case basis. Relevant factors include whether the activity is one 

traditionally considered “governmental,” whether it involves the exercise of a governmental 

activity, and the extent of governmental financial interest in the activity. The income must be 

derived from a qualifying activity; it is not sufficient that the income be paid over to or benefit a 

qualifying activity. The second requirement, that the income “accrue to” a State or political 

subdivision, occurs when the State or subdivision has an unrestricted right to a proportionate 

share of the income. 

Most such entities generally are not subject to taxation on unrelated business taxable 

income.601 State colleges and universities, however, generally are subject to unrelated business 

income taxation.602 Contributions to or for the use of State and local governments exclusively 

for public purposes generally are deductible for income, estate and gift tax purposes.603

United States instrumentalities

Since 1934, there has been exemption for corporations organized under an Act of 

Congress, if such corporations are instrumentalities of the United States.604 U.S. 

instrumentalities include the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Reconstruction Finance 

Corporation, Federal Land Banks, Federal National Mortgage Association, Federal Reserve 

Banks, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, and the Pennsylvania Avenue 

Development Corporation. Federal credit unions organized and operated under the Federal 

Credit Union Act are instrumentalities of the United States.605 U.S. instrumentalities are not 

subject to taxation on unrelated business taxable income.606 Prior to 1934, exemption for many 

U.S. instrumentalities was provided in the act establishing the instrumentality. The general 

exemption provision was adopted “to bring the section into accord with the acts authorizing such 

exemptions and to avoid the necessity of referring to all such acts.”607

 601 Sec. 511(a)(2)(A). 

602 Sec. 511(a)(2)(B). 

603 Secs. 170(c)(1), 2055(a)(1), 2522(a)(1). 

604 Revenue Act of 1934, sec. 101(15), 48 Stat. 680; sec. 501(c)(1). See sec. 501(l) (listing 

certain exempt U.S. instrumentalities). 

605 See Rev. Rul. 89-94, 1989-2 C.B. 283. State credit unions are governed by other provisions.

606 Sec. 511(a)(2)(A). Contributions to or for the use of a U.S. instrumentality generally are 

deductible for income, estate and gift tax purposes. 

607 H.R. Rep. No. 704, 73d Cong., 2d Sess. (1934). 
169

Indian tribal governments

Since the Indian Tribal Government Tax Status Act of 1982, there has been an exemption 

for Indian tribal governments.608 The exemption expressly provides that Indian tribal 

governments are treated as States for certain tax purposes. First, tribal governments may be 

recipients of deductible charitable contributions for income, estate, and gift tax purposes. 

Second, tribal governments are extended the treatment provided to States under the following 

excise taxes: tax on special fuels, manufacturers excise taxes, communications excise tax, and 

tax on use of certain highway vehicles. Special treatment relating to excise taxes is available to 

tribal governments only with regard to transactions involving the exercise of an essential 

governmental function609 by the Indian tribal government. Third, taxes paid to Indian tribal 

governments are deductible for income tax purposes to the same extent as state taxes.610 Fourth, 

Indian tribal governments may issue tax-exempt bonds and private activity bonds under certain 

conditions. 

In addition, Indian tribal governments are treated as States for purposes of: (1) unrelated 

business income tax rules that apply to state colleges and universities, (2) treatment of amounts 

received under a disability and sickness fund maintained by a State, (3) the rules relating to taxsheltered annuities, (4) original discount rules, (5) the tax on excess expenditures to influence 

legislation, and (6) private foundation rules. 

Member-type organizations

Clubs organized for pleasure, recreation, and other nonprofitable purposes

Since 1916, there has been an exemption for clubs organized for pleasure, recreation and 

other nonprofitable purposes (a “social club”), if substantially all of the activities of which are 

for such purposes and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private 

shareholder.611 To qualify as a tax-exempt club, an organization not only must be a nonprofit 

entity but also must meet both an organizational test and an operational test.612 In general, this 

tax exemption extends to social and recreational clubs that are supported primarily by 

 608 Pub. L. No. 97-473 (1983); sec. 7871. 

609 See Secs. 4227, 4484, 6420(i)(4), 6421(j)(3), and 6427(p)(3), which refer to section 7871 for 

exemption provisions. Section 7871(e) limits the term essential governmental function to exclude any 

function that is not customarily performed by State and local governments with general taxing powers. 

610 Secs. 7871(a)(3) and 164(g)(2). 

611 Revenue Act of 1916, ch. 463, sec. 11(a)(9), 39 Stat. 766; sec. 501(c)(7). In 1976, Congress 

relaxed the exemption requirements for social clubs by requiring a substantially all standard in 

substitution for an exclusively standard. See Pub. L. No. 94-568 (1976). 

612 Rev. Rul. 70-32, 1970-1 C.B. 132. 
170

membership fees, dues, and assessments.613 Typical exempt social clubs include golf and 

country clubs, amateur sport clubs, hobby clubs, and luncheon and dinner clubs. For example: 

• A nonprofit organization that conducts regular bowling tournaments for its 

members qualifies where its overall program is designed to effect a commingling 

of members for their pleasure and recreation. The awarding of cash prizes to 

tournament winners from tournament entry fees is not an inurement of net income 

to members.614

• A college fraternity that maintains a chapter house for active members who are 

students of the school qualifies.615

Congress exempted social clubs from tax because the operation of a social club does not 

involve the requisite shifting of income from a member to an entity. The legislative history 

explains the rationale for exemption: 

It was deemed advisable to specifically extend the exemption to other 

corporations similar to those enumerated in the present law as exempt from tax in 

view of the fact that the experience of the Treasury Department has been that the 

securing of returns has been a source of expense and annoyance and resulted in 

the collection of either: no tax or an amount which is practically negligible.616

Since the tax exemption for social clubs and other groups is designed to allow 

individuals to join together to provide recreational or social facilities or other 

benefits on a mutual basis, without tax consequences, the exemption operates 

properly only when the sources of income of the organization are limited to 

receipts from the membership. Under such circumstances, the individual is in 

substantially the same position as if he had spent his income in pleasure or 

recreation (or other benefits) without the intervening separate organization.617

The unrelated business income tax rules applicable to exempt social clubs are less 

favorable than those applicable to most other types of exempt organizations. Most other types of 

exempt organizations, for example, are not required to pay tax on gifts or grants, income from 

 613 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(7)-1(a). An organization that otherwise qualifies as an exempt club 

will not be denied exemption solely because it adopts a method of raising revenue from members by 

means other than fees, dues, and assessments. 

614 Rev. Rul. 74-148, 1974-1 C.B. 138. 

615 Rev. Rul. 69-573, 1969-2 C.B. 125. 

616 H.R. Rep. No. 922, 64th Cong., 1st Sess. 4 (1916). 

617 S. Rep. No. 91-552, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 71 (1969) (explaining the rationale for exemption in 

the context of imposing unrelated business income tax on nonmember income). 
171

the performance of exempt functions, investment income, or other forms of passive income. The 

unrelated business income tax rules applicable to social clubs, however, isolate and exclude from 

taxation only such organizations’ exempt function income.618 Most other income, including 

passive investment income, is subject to taxation. Certain amounts set aside for charitable and 

some other purposes may be included in the organization’s exempt function income and thereby 

excluded from taxation.619

Fraternal beneficiary societies, orders, or associations

Since 1894, there has been exemption for fraternal beneficiary societies, orders or 

associations.620 Contributions to such organizations are deductible as charitable contributions to 

the extent the contribution is exclusively for charitable purposes.621 A fraternal beneficiary 

society, order, or association is entitled to tax-exempt status if it operates under the lodge system 

or for the exclusive benefit of the members of a fraternity itself operating under the lodge 

system, and provides for the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to the members of 

such society, order, or association or their dependents.622 Operating under the lodge system 

generally means carrying on activities under a form of organization that comprises local 

branches, chartered by a parent organization and largely self-governing, called lodges, chapters, 

or the like.623 Separately organized insurance branches of fraternal societies need not operate 

under the lodge system, but must provide permissible benefits exclusively to members of a lodge 

system.624 

In general, the term “fraternal” applies to an organization whose members have adopted 

the same, or a very similar calling, avocation, or profession, and who for that reason have banded 

together to aid and assist one another and to promote a common cause.625 A fraternal beneficiary 

 618 Sec. 512(a)(3). 

619 Sec. 512(a)(3)(B). 

620 Tariff Act of 1894, sec. 32, 28 Stat. 509 (ruled unconstitutional); see also sec. 38 of the Tarriff 

Act of 1909, 36 Stat. 11; sec. 501(c)(8). 

621 Sec. 170(c)(4) (providing that to be deductible, the contribution must be used exclusively for 

religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to 

children or animals). 

622 According to trade association literature, “most fraternal benefit societies were founded more 

than a century ago to provide a sense of community to new Americans. These societies supported 

religious, educational and patriotic activities, with fraternal life insurance often providing the only means 

of support for a family following the death of the primary wage earner.” National Fraternal Congress of 

America, 1998 Activity Report of the Fraternal Benefit System.

623 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(8)-1. 

624 Rev. Rul. 73-192, 1973-1 C.B. 224. 

625 National Union v. Marlow, 74 F. 775, 778-79 (8th Cir. 1896). 
172

society does not serve a fraternal purpose unless its members engage in fraternal activities. 

Rituals, ceremonies, social activities, and the performance of civic, benevolent, or charitable 

functions may serve to establish a fraternal purpose. As between fraternal purposes and the 

provision of benefits, fraternal purposes need not predominate. It is sufficient if both the 

fraternal and benefit features are present, although an organization whose fraternal features are 

so insubstantial as to make it indistinguishable from an ordinary insurance company does not 

qualify under section 501(c)(8).626 

Fraternal beneficiary societies described in section 501(c)(8) generally provide three 

types of services or benefits: insurance, fraternal, and charitable. Fraternal activities, by 

definition, benefit only members. Charitable activities of fraternal organizations may provide 

significant benefits to members and to non-members.627 A fraternal beneficiary society may 

engage in non-fraternal activities or provide non-fraternal benefits, but such activities and 

benefits may be taxable as unrelated business income activities, or result in the organization’s 

loss of exempt status unless the organization remains primarily engaged in fraternal activities 

and its benefits are primarily fraternal benefits.628

The Revenue Act of 1913 provided an exemption to organizations operating for the 

exclusive benefit of the members of a fraternity itself operating under the lodge system.629 The 

early societies provided members on an informal basis relief during sickness and unemployment 

and at death, with fraternal life insurance (i.e., the providing of death benefits on a more formal 

basis) appearing in the mid-nineteenth century.630 The provision of sickness and accident 

insurance developed later. The IRS takes the position that life, sick, accident, and other benefits 

encompass those benefits that provide insurance against the risk of loss of earning power.631

Domestic fraternal societies, orders, or associations

Since 1969, there has been an exemption for domestic fraternal societies, orders, or 

associations, operating under the lodge system, the net earnings of which are devoted exclusively 

 626 Rev. Rul. 73-165, 1973-1 C.B. 224. 

627 Report to the Congress on Fraternal Benefit Societies, Department of the Treasury, Jan. 1993, 

12. 

628 Gen. Couns. Mem. 38312 (March 20, 1980). 

629 Pub. L. No. 63-6, section II(G)(a), 38 Stat. 172 (1913). 

630 Priv. Ltr. Rul. 9523027 (June 9, 1995) (citing D. Gregg, Life and Health Insurance 

Handbook, 276 (3rd ed. 1973)). 

631 Gen. Couns. Mem. 38312 (March 20, 1980). “Other benefits” include a legal defense fund 

for charges of misconduct arising from employment (Rev. Rul. 84-48, 1984-1 C.B. 133), an orphanage 

for surviving children of deceased members (Rev. Rul. 84-49, 1984-1 C.B. 134), and annuities (Gen. 

Couns. Mem. 39575 (Nov. 18, 1986)). 
173

to religious, charitable, scientific, literary, educational, and fraternal purposes.632 Unlike 

fraternal beneficiary societies described in section 501(c)(8), domestic fraternal societies may not 

provide for the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to their members. 

Prior to 1969, there was no exemption provided for fraternal societies operating under the 

lodge system that did not, in addition to their fraternal activities, provide for the payment of life 

sick, and accident benefits to their members. The Senate Committee on Finance explained the 

purpose of the exemption as follows: 

[A] new category of exemption for fraternal beneficiary associations is set forth 

which applies to fraternal organizations operating under the lodge system where 

the fraternal activities are exclusively religious, charitable, or educational in 

nature and no insurance is provided for the members. The committee believes 

that it is appropriate to provide a separate exempt category for those fraternal 

beneficiary associations (such as the Masons) which do not provide insurance for 

their members. This more properly describes the different types of fraternal 

associations.633 

Cemetery companies

Since 1913, there has been exemption for certain cemetery companies.634 Today’s 

exemption is for (1) cemetery companies that are owned and operated exclusively for the benefit 

of their members; (2) nonprofit cemetery companies; and (3) any corporation chartered solely for 

burial or cremation purposes, that is not permitted by its charter to engage in any business not 

necessarily incident to those purposes, and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the 

benefit of the private shareholder or individual. Contributions to tax-exempt cemetery 

companies are deductible for Federal income tax purposes.635 The contributions must be 

voluntary and made for the use of a nonprofit cemetery, the funds of which are irrevocably 

dedicated to the care of the cemetery as a whole. Contributions made to a cemetery company for 

the perpetual care of a particular lot or crypt, however, are not deductible.636

A mutual cemetery company must be owned and operated exclusively for the benefit of 

its “lot owners.” A lot owner, in turn, must hold the lot for burial purposes and not for resale. A 

mutual cemetery company, however, that engages in charitable activities (e.g., burial of paupers) 

will also qualify for exemption. A cemetery company or corporation may qualify for exemption 

even though it operates certain related businesses. The IRS has ruled that cemetery companies or 

 632 Pub. L. No. 91-172, sec. 121(c)(5), 83 Stat. 541; sec. 501(c)(10). 

633 S. Rep. No. 552, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 72 (1969). 

634 Tariff Act of 1913, ch. 16, sec. 11(G)(a), 38 Stat. 172; sec. 501(c)(13). 

635 Sec. 170(c)(5). 

636 Rev. Rul. 58-190, 1958-1 C.B. 15. 
174

corporations may sell monuments, makers, vaults, caskets, and flowers for use in the cemetery if 

the sale proceeds are used for cemetery maintenance. 

Exempt cemetery companies include: 

• A nonprofit organization, not associated with a cemetery company, formed by 

citizens of a community to maintain an established cemetery whose lots were 

purchased by individuals from a landowner.637 

• An organization receiving and administering funds for the perpetual care of a 

nonprofit cemetery itself.638 

Homeowners associations

Prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1976,639 homeowners associations and condominium 

management associations frequently were unable to obtain exemption, despite the fact that they 

served their members in maintaining common areas of housing developments and condominium 

buildings.640 In 1976, Congress specifically provided an exemption for homeowners 

associations. Under section 528, condominium and residential real estate management 

associations may elect to be treated as exempt organizations with respect to their “exempt 

function income,” such as membership dues, fees and assessments. Other income will be taxed 

at a flat 30 percent rate. 

To qualify as a tax-exempt homeowners association, an organization must be a 

condominium, management association, or residential real estate management association. The 

electing association must meet all of the following conditions: (1) it must be organized and 

operated primarily to provide for the acquisition, construction, management, maintenance, and 

care of association property;641 (2) it must pass an income test, under which at least 60 percent of 

 637 Rev. Rul. 78-143, 1978-1 C.B. 161. 

638 Rev. Rul. 58-190. 

639 Pub. L. No. 94-455 (1976). 

640 For example, prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1976, homeowners associations were granted 

exemption as a social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4) only if (1) their activities served an 

identified community and were not directed to the maintenance of the exterior of private homes, and (2) 

their common areas were available for the use of the public. Rev. Rul. 72-102, 1972-1 C.B. 149, 

modified by Rev. Rul. 74-99, 1974-1 C.B. 131. 

641 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.528-2. Association property means not only property held by it but also 

property commonly held by its members, property within the association privately held by the members, 

and property owned by a governmental unit and used for the benefit of residents of the unit. Treas. Reg. 

sec. 1.528-3. 
175

the association’s gross income for a tax year consists of exempt function income;642 (3) it must 

pass an expenditure test, under which at least 90 percent of the annual expenditures of the 

association must be to acquire, construct, manage, maintain, and care for or improve its 

property;643 (4) no part of the association’s net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private 

shareholder or individual;644 and (5) substantially all of the dwelling units in the condominium 

project or lots and buildings in a subdivision, development, or similar area must be used by 

individuals for residences.645 Section 528, as amended in 1997, also applies to certain timeshare 

associations. 

Cooperative organizations

Benevolent life insurance associations/local cooperatives

Since 1916,646 there has been an exemption for mutual ditch or irrigation companies, 

mutual or cooperative telephone companies, or like organizations.647 In 1924, the exemption was 

extended to benevolent life insurance associations of a purely local character.648 In general, 85 

percent or more of the income of these entities must consist of amounts collected from members 

for the sole purpose of meeting losses and expenses of the organization.649 The 85 percent 

 642 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.528-5. Exempt function income means any amount received as 

membership dues, fees, or assessments from persons who are members of the association, namely owners 

of condominium housing units (in the case of a condominium management association) or owners of real 

property (in the case of a residential real estate management association). Treas. Reg. sec. 1.528-9. 

643 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.528-6. 

644 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.528-7. 

645 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.528-4. 

646 1916 Revenue Act, sec. 11(a)(10), 39 Stat. 766; sec. 501(c)(12). 

647 Mutual ditch or irrigation companies, mutual or cooperative telephone companies, and like 

organizations are commonly regarded as mutual or cooperative electric companies and water companies. 

Rev. Rul. 67-265, 1967-2 C.B. 205. 

648 Revenue Act of 1924, ch. 234, sec. 231(10), 43 Stat. 283. A court had held that such 

organizations were not covered by the 1916 Act; thus Congress made its intent clear that such 

organizations should be exempt. See Bankers’ and Planters’ Mutual Insurance Association v. Walker, 

279 F. 53, 55-56 (8th Cir. 1922) (“Life insurance is too well known and important for us to suppose that 

Congress would . . . intend life insurance to be included in the general expression of ‘like 

organizations.’”). Of a purely local character means “confined to a particular community, place, or 

district, irrespective, however, of political subdivisions,” that is, a single identifiable locality. Treas. Reg. 

sec. 1.501(c)(12)-1(b). Members of a qualifying benevolent life insurance association must continue to 

reside in the local geographic area at the time of application. Rev. Rul. 83-43, 1983-1 C.B. 108. 

649 Sec. 501(c)(12)(A); Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(12)-1(a). Some exceptions to the 85-percent-ofincome requirement apply with respect to mutual and cooperative telephone and electric companies. Sec. 

501(c)(12)(B), (C), (D). In addition, section 319 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 
176

member-income test was intended to insure cooperatives continued serving members rather than 

placing their member-source income in investments, such as bonds or stocks, and becoming 

investment companies.650

Farmers’ cooperatives

Since 1916, there has been exemption for farmers’ cooperative organizations,651 which 

are farmers, fruit growers, or like associations (including livestock growers and operators of 

diaries) organized and operated on a cooperative basis for the purpose of: (1) marketing the 

products of members and other producers and returning to them the proceeds of sales, less the 

necessary marketing expenses, on the basis of either the quantity or the value of the products 

furnished by them; or (2) purchasing supplies and equipment for the use of members or other 

persons and turning over the supplies and equipment to them at actual cost plus necessary 

expenses.652 An organization engaged in both marketing and purchasing is exempt if, as to each 

of such functions, it meets the requirements of section 521.

A farmers’ cooperative must be organized and operated on a cooperative basis,653 include 

bona fide members,654 and (where appropriate) include producers.655 A farmers’ cooperative 

may pay dividends on its capital stock,656 permit proxy voting by its shareholders,657 and 

 

108-357, expanded the exceptions in section 501(c)(12) to allow rural electric cooperatives to exclude 

income from certain nonmember transactions for purposes of the 85-percent test. 

650 See Michael Seto and Cheryl Chasin, General Survey of I.R.C. 501(c)(12) Cooperatives and 

Examination of Current Issues, IRS, Exempt Organizations Continuing Professional Education (CPE) 

Technical Instruction Program FY 2002. 

651 1916 Revenue Act, sec. 11(a)(11), 39 Stat. 766; sec. 521. Such organizations are subject to 

the nonexempt cooperative rules of sections 1381-1388. 

652 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.521-1. 

653 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.521-1(a)(1). 

654 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.521-1(a)(3). 

655 See Farmers Coop. Creamery Ass’n of Cresco, Iowa v. United States, 81-1 U.S.T.C. para. 

9457 (N.D. Iowa 1981). 

656 Sec. 521(b)(2); Treas. Reg. sec. 1.521-1(a)(2). To be tax-exempt as a farmers’ cooperative, 

substantially all of the capital stock must be owned by producers who market their products or purchase 

their supplies and equipment through the cooperative. The IRS’s position is that at least 85 percent of 

capital stock must be held by producers to satisfy the “substantially all” test. See Rev. Rul. 73-248, 1973-

1 C.B. 295. 

657 Rev. Rul. 75-97, 1975-1 C.B. 167. 
177

maintain a reasonable reserve.658 The earnings of cooperatives are generally taxed to the 

cooperative or their patrons.659 These rules enable tax-exempt farmers’ cooperatives to attain 

certain advantages in computing tax that are not available to other cooperatives. 

Examples include: 

• A cooperative association, that in connection with its marketing function, 

processed its members’ agricultural products into alcohol, qualifies.660

• A nonprofit agricultural cooperative formed to produce and market range grasses, 

on land owned or leased by its members, by grazing its own herd of breeder cattle 

and by grazing the cattle of others during the peak growing season qualifies for 

exemption as a farmers’, fruit growers’, or like association within the meaning of 

section 521.661

Crop-financing corporations

Since 1928, there has been an exemption (now under section 501(c)(16)) for corporations 

organized by section 521 farmers’ cooperative marketing associations or purchasing associations 

or the members thereof, which are operated in conjunction with the section 521 organization and 

are formed to finance the ordinary crop operations of the members or other producers.662 The 

crop operations finance corporation may retain its exemption even though it issues capital stock, 

where certain statutory conditions are met, or it accumulates and maintains a reasonable reserve. 

A tax-exempt crop financing corporation may own all the stock of a business corporation without 

jeopardizing its tax exempt status.663 

 658 To be tax-exempt as a farmers’ cooperative, an organization must establish that it does not 

have any taxable income for its own account other than that reflected in the authorized reserve or surplus. 

Treas. Reg. sec. 1.521-1(c). 

659 Secs. 1381-1388. The cooperatives’ net earnings or savings are distributed to the patrons on 

the basis of the amount of business transacted by them, in the form of patronage dividends. Patronage 

dividends are the profits of a cooperative that are rebated to its patrons pursuant to a preexisting 

obligation of the cooperative; the rebate must be made in an equitable fashion on the basis of the quantity 

or value of business done with the cooperative. 

660 Rev. Rul. 81-96, 1981-1 C.B. 359. 

661 Rev. Rul. 75-5, 1975-1 C.B. 166. 

662 Revenue Act of 1928, ch. 852, sec. 103(13), 45 Stat. 791; sec. 501(c)(16). 

663 Rev. Rul. 78-434, 1978-2 C.B. 179. 
178

State credit unions

Since 1951, there has been an exemption for credit unions without capital stock organized 

and operated for mutual purposes and without profit (not including Federal credit unions that are 

exempt as U.S. instrumentalities).664 State law determines whether an organization formed under 

the laws of one of the States is a credit union for this purpose.665 If an organization is not formed 

and does not operate under a State law governing credit unions, it generally is not a credit 

union.666 

Before 1951, section 101(4) of the 1939 Code provided an exemption for domestic 

building and loan associations substantially all the business of which was confined to making 

loans to members (i.e., savings and loan institutions), and cooperative banks without capital 

stock organized for mutual purposes and without profit (i.e., mutual savings banks). Although 

section 101(4) did not explicitly refer to credit unions, the IRS considered many credit unions to 

be within the general meaning of cooperative banks for this purpose and, thus, treated credit 

unions as exempt from tax.667

In 1951, Congress amended section 101(4) by deleting the references to savings and loan 

institutions and mutual savings banks and replacing them with the present-law exemption for 

credit unions without capital stock organized and operated for mutual purposes and without 

profit. The legislative history of the Revenue Act of 1951 indicates that Congress eliminated the 

exemption for savings and loan institutions and mutual savings banks because they were similar 

to profit-seeking taxable financial corporations and, therefore, should be similarly taxed. 

However, the legislative history is silent with respect to the rationale for not likewise eliminating 

the exemption for credit unions on similar grounds.668

 664 Sec. 501(c)(14)(A). 

665 Rev. Rul. 69-282, 1969-1 C.B. 155 (holding that an organization formed under a State’s 

general corporation law was not a credit union even though its charter required “mutuality of lender and 

borrower in the sense that any person borrowing from the organization must be a member”). 

666 Id. 

667 Opinion of the Attorney General, 31 O.A.G. 176 (1917). 

668 The legislative history to the Act states that the reason for elimination of exempt status for 

mutual savings banks and savings and loan associations was their departure from the principles and 

purposes of their formation, in that they had come to compete with many types of taxable financial 

institutions in the securities and real estate markets. S. Rep. No. 781, 82d Cong., 1st Sess. 27 (1951). 
179

Insurance

Certain small property and casualty insurance companies

Since 1916, there has been an exemption for certain small property and casualty 

insurance companies.669 In 1926, during a debate on such organizations, one Senator stated that 

such organizations are established “for mutual protection, they do not pay dividends, they do not 

run the great financial institutions of the country, as the ordinary fire and life insurance 

companies do now. They only provide for self-protection.”670

Until 1986, the exemption applied only to qualifying mutual companies, but in 1986, the 

provision was expanded to apply to qualifying stock companies as well. Under present law, in 

general, a property and casualty insurance company is exempt if (1) its gross receipts for the 

taxable year do not exceed $600,000, and (2) the premiums received for the taxable year are 

greater than 50 percent of its gross receipts. To qualify for the exemption, the company must 

meet the definition of an insurance company, meaning that more than half of its business during 

the taxable year is from the issuing of insurance or annuity contracts or the reinsuring of risks 

underwritten by insurance companies.671 A special rule provides that a mutual property and 

casualty insurance company is eligible to be exempt if (a) its gross receipts for the taxable year 

do not exceed $150,000, and (b) the premiums received for the taxable year are greater than 35 

percent of its gross receipts, provided that no employee of the company or member of the 

employee's family is an employee of another company that is exempt from tax under section 

501(c)(15). 

High-risk individuals health care coverage organizations

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 provided an exemption 

for nonprofit health care coverage organizations for high-risk individuals.672 Section 501(c)(26) 

provides tax-exempt status to any membership organization that is established by a State 

exclusively to provide coverage for medical care on a nonprofit basis to certain high-risk 

individuals, provided certain criteria are satisfied. The organization may provide coverage for 

medical care either by issuing insurance itself or by entering into an arrangement with a health 

maintenance organization (“HMO”). 

 669 1916 Revenue Act, sec. 11(a)(10), 39 Stat. 766; sec. 501(c)(15). 

670 67 Cong. Rec. 3431-32 (1926) (remarks of Senator Smith). 

671 Section 501(c)(15) was amended by the Pension Funding Equity Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 

108-218, sec. 206(a). Prior to the amendment, exemption generally was available if the company’s net 

written premiums or direct written premiums (whichever is greater) for the taxable year did not exceed 

$350,000. 

672 Pub. L. No. 104-191, sec. 341(a) (1996); sec. 501(c)(26). 
180

High-risk individuals eligible to receive medical care coverage from the organization 

must be residents of the State who, due to a pre-existing medical condition, are unable to obtain 

health coverage for such condition through insurance or an HMO, or are able to acquire such 

coverage only at a rate that is substantially higher than the rate charged for such coverage by the 

organization. The State must determine the composition of membership in the organization. For 

example, a State could mandate that all organizations that are subject to insurance regulation by 

the State must be members of the organization.673

The provision further requires the State or members of the organization to fund the 

liabilities of the organization to the extent that premiums charged to eligible individuals are 

insufficient to cover such liabilities. Finally, no part of the net earnings of the organization can 

inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. 

State-sponsored workmen’s compensation insurance organizations

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 provided an exemption 

for state-sponsored workmen’s compensation insurance organizations.674 To qualify for the 

exemption, the organization must have been established by a State before June 1, 1996, 

exclusively for the purpose of reimbursing its members for losses arising under the workmen’s 

compensation acts. An organization will qualify for tax-exempt status only if the State requires 

that the organization’s membership consist of all persons who issue insurance covering 

workmen’s compensation losses in such State, and all persons and governmental entities who 

self-insure against such losses. The organization is required to operate on a nonprofit basis by 

returning surplus income to its members or workmen’s compensation policyholders on a periodic 

basis and is required to reduce initial premiums in anticipation of investment income. 

In tax years beginning after December 31, 1997, the tax exemption is also available to 

any organization (including a mutual insurance company) if it is created by State law and is 

organized and operated exclusively to (1) provide workmen’s compensation insurance which is 

required by State law or with respect to which State law provides significant disincentives if the 

insurance is not purchased by an employer, and (2) provide related coverage which is incidental 

to the worker’s compensation insurance. The organization must provide workers’ compensation 

insurance to any employer in the State (or employees in the State or temporarily assigned out of 

State) which seeks the insurance and meets other reasonable requirements. The State must make 

a financial commitment with respect to the organization, either by extending full faith and credit 

of the State to the initial debt of the organization or by providing the organization its initial 

operating capital. The assets of the organization must revert to the State upon dissolution, unless 

State law does not permit the dissolution of the organization. The majority of the board of 

directors or oversight body of the organization must be appointed by the chief executive officer 

or other executive branch official of the State, by the State legislature, or by both. 

 673 The composition of the membership in the organization must be specified by the State. Sec. 

501(c)(26)(C). 

674 Pub. L. No. 104-191, sec. 342(a); sec. 501(c)(27). 
181

Shipowners’ protection and indemnity associations

Since 1921, there has been exemption for shipowners’ protection and indemnity 

associations not organized for profit, and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the 

benefit of any private shareholder.675 Such associations are, however, taxable as corporations on 

their net income from interest, dividends, and rents. 

Shipowners’ mutual associations are formed to provide insurance to their members. The 

member shipowners pay dues or premiums to the association, which, in turn, pays claims arising 

out of the use of its members’ vessels. The IRS has ruled that the dues paid to the association are 

nontaxable and that if the association returns a surplus to its members, the prohibition on private 

inurement is not violated.676 The dues or premiums paid by members to the association are 

deductible if they qualify as necessary and ordinary business expenses.677

Arrangements to provide employee benefits

Qualified retirement plans

Since 1921, there has been exemption for trusts holding the assets of an employersponsored retirement plan that meets the qualification requirements of section 401(a) (a 

“qualified retirement plan”).678 Among such requirements is that the assets must be held for the 

exclusive benefit of the employees covered by the plan and their beneficiaries. 

In addition to tax-exempt status for such a trust, qualified retirement plans are accorded 

special tax treatment under present law. Specifically, employees do not include qualified 

retirement plan benefits in gross income until the benefits are distributed, even though the plan is 

funded and the benefits are nonforfeitable. Moreover, the employer is entitled to a current 

deduction (within limits) for contributions to a qualified retirement plan even though the 

contributions are not currently included in an employee’s income. 

Governmental eligible deferred compensation plans

Since 1996, there has been exemption for trusts holding the assets of a deferred 

compensation plan maintained by a State or local governmental employer that meets the 

 675 Revenue Act of 1921, ch. 136, sec. 233(a), 42 Stat. 254; sec. 521. 

676 Rev. Rul. 70-566, 1970-2 C.B. 128. 

677 Rev. Rul. 55-189, 1955-1 C.B. 265. 

678 Sec. 501(a). Exemption from Federal income tax for qualified retirement plans was 

previously provided by section 165 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1939, section 165 of the Revenue Act 

of 1928, and section 219(f) of the Revenue Act of 1921. 
182

requirements of section 457(b) (an “eligible deferred compensation plan”).679 Among such 

requirements is that the assets must be held for the exclusive benefit of the employees covered by 

the plan and their beneficiaries. 

Employees covered by an eligible deferred compensation plan maintained by a State or 

local governmental employer receive tax treatment similar to employees covered by a qualified 

retirement plan. That is, amounts deferred under the plan are not included in gross income until 

benefits are distributed, even though the plan is funded and the benefits are nonforfeitable. 

Voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations

Since 1928, there has been exemption for voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations 

(“VEBAs”).680 Legislative history provided that it was “desirable to provide specifically for 

their exemption from the ordinary corporation tax.”681 

A VEBA is a trust or fund that provides for the payment of life, sick, accident or other 

similar benefits to members of such association or their dependents or designated beneficiaries, 

as long as there is no private inurement. The employees eligible for coverage by a VEBA must 

share an employment-based common bond. Typically, eligibility is determined on the basis of: 

(1) a common employer (or affiliated employers), (2) coverage under one or more collective 

bargaining agreements, (3) membership in a labor union, or (4) membership in one or more 

locals of a national or international labor union. In addition, employees of one or more 

employers engaged in the same line of business in the same geographic locale will be considered 

to share an employment-related bond. 

Unlike most other types of exempt organizations, VEBAs are required to pay unrelated 

business income tax on gifts or grants, income from the performance of exempt functions, 

investment income, or other forms of passive income. Only a VEBA’s exempt function income 

is excluded from unrelated business income tax.682 Certain amounts set aside for charitable and 

some other purposes may be included in a VEBA’s exempt function income and thereby 

excluded from taxation.683

 679 Sec. 457(g) was added to the Code by sec. 1448(a) of the Small Business Job Protection Act 

of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-188, as part of a requirement that the assets of an eligible deferred compensation 

plan maintained by a State or local governmental employer be held in trust. 

680 Revenue Act of 1928, ch. 852, sec. 103(16), 48 Stat. 814; sec. 501(c)(9). 

681 H.R. Rep. No. 2, 70th Cong., 1st Sess. 4 (1916). 

682 Sec. 512(a)(3). 

683 Sec. 512(3)(B). 
183

Employer contributions to a VEBA are deductible (within limits). In many cases, the 

benefits provided to employees by a VEBA, such as health benefits, are excluded from gross 

income. 

Teachers’ retirement fund associations 

Since 1928, there has been exemption for teachers’ retirement fund associations of a 

purely local character.684 The tax exemption is provided if: (1) there is no private inurement 

(other than through payment of retirement benefits) and (2) the income consists wholly of 

amounts received from assessments on the teaching salaries of members, and income from 

investments. 

Supplemental unemployment benefit trusts 

Since 1960, there has been exemption for certain trusts forming part of a plan providing 

for the payment of supplemental unemployment compensation benefits.685 The plan must be 

established and maintained for the sole purpose of providing supplemental unemployment 

compensation benefits and must provide that the corpus and income of the trust generally cannot 

be used for any purpose other than providing such benefits. 

Supplemental unemployment compensation benefits means: (1) benefits paid to an 

employee because of involuntary separation from employment (regardless of whether the 

separation is temporary) resulting directly from a reduction in force, the discontinuance of a 

plant or operation, or other similar conditions, and (2) sick and accident benefits subordinate to 

the separation benefits. Such supplemental unemployment compensation benefits are frequently 

provided in conjunction with (or coordinated with) other benefits, such as State unemployment 

benefits. 

The unrelated business income tax rules applicable to supplemental unemployment 

benefit trusts are similar to the special unrelated business income tax rules applicable to VEBAs, 

discussed above. 

Funded pension trusts

Since 1969, there has been exemption for certain trusts forming part of a pension plan.686 

Section 501(c)(18) exempts trusts created before June 25, 1959, that form a part of a pension 

plan funded only by employee contributions. The plan must provide that the corpus or income of 

the trust generally cannot be used for any purpose other than providing plan benefits. 

 684 Revenue Act of 1928, ch. 852, sec. 103(17), 48 Stat. 814; sec. 501(c)(11). 

685 Pub. L. No. 86-667 (1960); sec. 501(c)(17). 

686 Pub. L. No. 91-172 (1969); sec 501(c)(18) (effective for taxable years beginning after 1969). 
184

Qualified group legal services plans

Section 501(c)(20) provided an exemption for an organization or trust, the exclusive 

function of which is to form part of a qualified group legal services plan as defined in section 

120, which provided an exclusion for contributions and benefits provided under such a plan. The 

Tax Reform Act of 1976687 added section 501(c)(20), as well as section 120, to the Code. 

Sections 520(c)(20) and 120 do not apply to taxable years beginning after June 30, 1992.688 

However, an organization or trust forming part of a group legal services plan may be eligible for 

exemption as a VEBA. 

The unrelated business income tax rules applicable to qualified group legal services plans 

are similar to the special unrelated business income tax rules applicable to VEBAs and 

supplemental unemployment benefit trusts, discussed above. 

Black lung benefits trusts

The 1977 Black Lung Benefits Revenue Act provided an exemption for qualified black 

lung benefit trusts to facilitate the long-term financing of black lung benefits by employers.689 

No assets of a qualified black lung benefit trust may be used for, or diverted to, any purpose 

other than (1) to satisfy liabilities, or pay insurance premiums to cover liabilities, arising under 

the Black Lung Acts, (2) to pay administrative costs of operating the trust, (3) to pay accident 

and health benefits or premiums for insurance exclusively covering such benefits (including 

administrative and other incidental expenses relating to such benefits) for retired coal miners and 

their spouses and dependents (within certain limits) or (4) investment in Federal, State, or local 

securities and obligations, or in time demand deposits in a bank or insured credit union. 

Additionally, trust assets may be paid into the national Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, or into 

the general fund of the U.S. Treasury. 

Contributions to a qualified black lung benefit trust are generally deductible to the extent 

such contributions are necessary to fund the trust. 

Withdrawal liability trusts

The Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980 provided an exemption from 

Federal income tax for trusts that are established by plan sponsors of multiemployer plans for the 

purpose of paying withdrawal liability and withdrawal-type payments to such plans, as well as 

paying reasonable administrative expenses in connection with the operation of the trust.690

 687 Pub. L. No. 94-455 (1976). 

688 Sec. 120(e). 

689 Pub. L. No. 95-227 (1978); sec. 501(c)(21). 

690 Pub. L. No. 96-364 (1980); sec. 501(c)(22). 
185

Employee trusts

The Single-Employer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1986 (“SEPPAA”) provided an 

exemption for trusts established under section 4049 of the Employee Retirement Income Security 

Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), as in effect on the date of enactment of SEPPAA.691 Section 4049 of 

ERISA provided for the creation of a trust in connection with the recovery from an employer that 

terminated its pension plan amounts needed to provide benefits in excess of the amount 

guaranteed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Section 4049 of ERISA was repealed 

by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987.692

The National Railroad Investment Trust 

The Railroad Retirement and Survivor’s Improvement Act of 2001 provided an 

exemption for the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust established under section 15(j) 

of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974.693 The purpose of the trust is to manage and invest 

certain assets of the Railroad Retirement System. 

Title-holding corporations, single-parent and multiparent

Title-holding corporations

Since 1916, there has been exemption for title-holding corporations (not trusts).694 A 

title-holding corporation is an entity that serves one tax-exempt organization. Its purpose is to 

function as a subsidiary organization, hold title to property that would otherwise be held by the 

parent exempt organization, and remit any net income from the property to the parent. 

In legislative history to the 1916 Act, the general observation was made that title-holding 

companies were difficult to secure tax returns from, and that the Treasury collected little or no 

revenue from them. Today, exempt organizations often form title holding corporations as 

subsidiaries to hold title to real estate, and in certain cases, other properties. Although such 

corporations originally were established to avoid State law restrictions on the holding of property 

by certain nonprofit organizations, they now are used to reduce a parent organization’s exposure 

to liability, to facilitate administration, or to increase borrowing power.695 

 691 Pub. L. No. 99-272 (1986); sec. 501(c)(24). 

692 Pub. L. No. 100-203 (1987). 

693 Pub. L. No. 107-90 (2001); sec. 501(c)(28). 

694 1916 Revenue Act, sec. 11(a)(12), 39 Stat. 766; sec. 501(c)(2). 

695 Bruce R. Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations, sec. 18.2 (8th ed. 2003). 
186

Multiparent title holding organizations

An exemption for multiparent title holding organizations was added to the Code by the 

Tax Reform Act of 1986 to allow for the exemption of title-holding organizations with multiple 

parents.696 Unlike a single parent title holding company (described above), a multiparent title 

holding organization is limited to holding real property and may be organized as a trust. 

In general, a multiparent title-holding organization is a corporation or trust that is 

organized for the exclusive purposes of acquiring and holding title to real property,697 collecting 

income from the property, and remitting the entire amount of income from the property (less 

expenses) to one or more qualified tax-exempt organizations that are shareholders of the titleholding corporation or beneficiaries of the title-holding trust.698 The corporation or trust may 

have no more than 35 shareholders or beneficiaries and may have only one class of stock or 

beneficial interest.699 Organizations that are eligible to acquire or hold interests in a multiparent 

title-holding organization are charitable organizations, qualified pension, profit-sharing, or stock 

bonus plans, governmental plans, and governments and agencies or instrumentalities. 

Veterans’ organizations

Veterans’ organizations

Congress added section 501(c)(19) to the Internal Revenue Code in 1972 to provide an 

exemption for veterans’ organizations, but initially limited such exemption to organizations 

comprised principally of war veterans.700 Congress amended section 501(c)(19) in 1982 to allow 

veterans’ organizations not principally comprised of war veterans to qualify for exemption under 

that section.701 Before the enactment of section 501(c)(19), a veterans’ organizations generally 

qualified for exemption as a social welfare organization under section 501(c)(4). Some veterans’ 

 696 Pub. L. No. 99-514 (1986); sec. 501(c)(25). 

697 Real property does not include any interest as a tenant in common (or similar interest) and 

does not include any indirect interest. Real property includes a direct interest and any personal property 

that is leased under, or in connection with, a lease of real property (with the condition that rent 

attributable to the leasing of the personal property for a year does not exceed 15 percent of the total rent 

for the year attributable to both the real and personal property under the lease). Sec. 501(c)(25)(F). 

698 Sec. 501(c)(25)(A)(iii). 

699 Sec. 501(c)(25)(A)(i), (ii). 

700 Pub. L. No. 92-418, sec. 1(a) (1972). 

701 Pub. L. No. 97-248, sec. 354(a) (1982). 
187

organizations were recognized as social clubs under section 501(c)(7). Many veterans’ 

organizations may continue to qualify for exemption under more than one section of the Code.702

A veterans’ organization (as described in section 501(c)(19)) is as a post or organization 

of past or present members of the Armed Forces of the United States (1) that is organized in the 

United States or any of its possessions; (2) no part of the net earnings of which inures to the 

benefit of any private shareholder or individual; and (3) that meets certain membership 

requirements. The membership requirements are that (1) at least 75 percent of the organization’s 

members are past or present members of the Armed Forces of the United States, and (2) 

substantially all of the remaining members are cadets or are spouses, widows, widowers, 

ancestors, or lineal descendants of past or present members of the Armed Forces of the United 

States or of cadets.703 No more than 2.5 percent of an organization’s total members may consist 

of individuals who are not veterans, cadets, or spouses, widows, or widowers of such individuals. 

Contributions to an organization described in section 501(c)(19) may be deductible for Federal 

income and gift tax purposes, provided that the organization is a post or organization of war 

veterans, or an auxiliary unit or society of, or trust or foundation for, such a post or 

organization.704 Contributions to veterans organizations incorporated by Act of Congress are 

deductible for estate tax purposes.705

A special rule excludes certain insurance premium income retained by section 501(c)(19) 

veterans’ organizations from such an organization’s unrelated business taxable income. The rule 

generally applies where the organization serves as a commissioned agent for an insurance 

company that provides coverage to the organization’s members. To qualify for the special 

exclusion, the amount retained must be attributable to payments for life, sick, accident, or health 

insurance with respect to members or their dependents and be set aside for the purpose of 

providing for the payment of insurance benefits or for a purpose specified in section 170(c)(4), 

i.e., exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes, or for the 

prevention of cruelty to children or animals. Any other premium amounts retained generally will 

be included in the organization’s unrelated business taxable income.706 This special exception 

does not apply to veterans’ organizations exempt from tax under other sections of the Internal 

Revenue Code, such as section 501(c)(4). 

 702 See e.g., Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(c)(19)-1(c)(1) (promotion of social welfare as defined under 

section 501(c)(4) is a recognized exempt purpose under section 501(c)(19)). 

703 Section 105 of the Military Family Tax Relief Act of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-121, added 

ancestors or lineal descendants to the substantially all test. 

704 Secs. 170(c)(3), 2522(a)(4). These charitable deduction provisions are more limited than the 

exemption standard set forth in section 501(c)(19), which no longer restricts tax-exempt status under 

section 501(c)(19) to organizations of “war veterans.” 

705 Sec. 2055(a)(4). 

706 Sec. 512(a)(4). 
188

There are no restrictions on the lobbying and political activities of section 501(c)(19) 

veterans’ organizations.707 

Pre-1880 veterans organizations

Since 1982, there has been exemption for pre-1880 veterans organizations.708 The 

exemption is available for any association organized before 1880, more than 75 percent of the 

members of which are present or past members of the United States armed forces and a principal 

purpose of which is to provide insurance and other benefits to veterans or their dependents.709 

Section 501(c)(23) organizations do not have to meet the additional membership requirement of 

section 501(c)(19) organizations -- i.e., the “substantially all” test. 

Arrangements for individuals to save for health, retirement and education

Archer medical savings accounts

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 provided an exemption 

for Archer medical savings accounts (“MSAs”).710 An MSA is a tax-exempt trust or custodial 

account to which tax-deductible contributions may be made by individuals with a high 

deductible health plan (and no other health plan other than a plan that provides certain permitted 

coverage). Archer MSAs provide tax benefits similar to, but generally not as favorable as, those 

provided by HSAs. Within limits, contributions to an Archer MSA are deductible in determining 

adjusted gross income if made by an eligible individual and are excludable from gross income 

and wages for employment tax purposes if made by the employer of an eligible individual. 

Earnings on amounts in an Archer MSA are not includible in gross income in the year earned 

(i.e., inside buildup is not taxable). Distributions from an Archer MSA for qualified medical 

expenses are not includible in gross income. Distributions not used for qualified medical 

expenses are includible in gross income and subject to an additional 15-percent tax unless the 

distribution is made after death, disability, or the individual attains the age of Medicare eligibility 

(i.e., age 65). 

Health savings accounts

The Medicare, Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 

provided an exemption for health savings accounts (“HSAs”).711 An HSA is a tax-exempt trust 

 707 Other organizations have challenged this rule on constitutional grounds, though without 

success. See, e.g., Branch Ministries v. Rossotti, 40 F. Supp. 2d 15 (D.C. Dist. 1999), aff’d, 211 F.3d 137 

(D.C. Cir. 2000). 

708 The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, Pub. L. No. 97-248 (1982); sec. 

501(c)(23). 

709 Sec. 501(c)(23). 

710 Pub. L. No. 104-191, sec. 301 (1996); sec. 220. 

711 Pub. L. No. 108-173, sec. 1201 (2003); sec. 223. 
189

or custodial account to which tax-deductible contributions may be made by individuals with a 

high deductible health plan (and no other health plan other than a plan that provides certain 

permitted coverage). Subject to certain limitations, contributions to an HSA are deductible in 

determining adjusted gross income if made by or on behalf of the individual and are excludable 

from gross income and wages if made by the employer (including contributions made through a 

cafeteria plan through salary reduction). Earnings on amounts in an HSA are not includible in 

gross income in the year earned (i.e., inside buildup is not taxable). Distributions from an HSA 

that are for qualified medical expenses are excludable from gross income. Distributions from an 

HSA that are not used for qualified medical expenses are includible in gross income and are 

subject to an additional tax of 10 percent, unless the distribution is made after death, disability, 

or the individual attains the age of Medicare eligibility (i.e., age 65). 

Individual retirement arrangements

The Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 provided an exemption for 

individual retirement accounts (“IRAs”).712 An IRA is a trust or account established for the 

exclusive benefit of an individual and his or her beneficiaries. There are two general types of 

IRAs: traditional IRAs, to which both deductible and nondeductible contributions may be made, 

and Roth IRAs, contributions to which are not deductible. Contributions to an IRA are subject to 

limits. Amounts held in a traditional IRA are includible in income when withdrawn (except to 

the extent the withdrawal is a return of nondeductible contributions). Amounts held in a Roth 

IRA that are withdrawn as a qualified distribution are not includible in income; distributions 

from a Roth IRA that are not qualified distributions are includible in income to the extent 

attributable to earnings. A qualified distribution is a distribution that (1) is made after the fivetaxable year period beginning with the first taxable year for which the individual made a 

contribution to a Roth IRA, and (2) is made after attainment of age 59-1/2, on account of death 

or disability, or is made for first-time homebuyer expenses of up to $10,000. 

Qualified tuition programs

The Small Business Protection Act of 1996 provided an exemption for a qualified tuition 

program.713 A qualified tuition program is defined as a program established and maintained by a 

State or agency or instrumentality thereof, or by one or more eligible educational institutions 

designed to meet the educational needs of college students. Under a qualified tuition program, a 

person may purchase tuition credits or certificates on behalf of a designated beneficiary, or in the 

case of a State program, may make contributions to an account that is established for the purpose 

of meeting qualified higher education expenses of the designated beneficiary of the account. 

Contributions to a qualified tuition program must be made in cash, and the program must have 

adequate safeguards to prevent contributions in excess of amounts necessary to provide for the 

beneficiary’s qualified higher education expenses. 

 712 Pub. L. No. 93-406, sec. 2002(b) (1974); sec. 408. 

713 Pub. L. No. 104-188, 1806(a) (1996); sec. 529. 
190

Distributions from a qualified tuition program are not includible in the distributee’s gross 

income to the extent that the total distribution does not exceed the qualified education expenses 

incurred by the beneficiary during the year the distribution is made. If a distribution from a 

qualified tuition program exceeds the qualified education expenses incurred by the beneficiary 

during the year of the distribution, the portion of the excess that is treated as earnings generally is 

subject to income tax and an additional 10-percent tax. Amounts in a qualified tuition program 

may be rolled over to another qualified tuition program for the same beneficiary or for a member 

of the family of that beneficiary. Qualified tuition programs are subject to special estate, gift, 

and generation-skipping transfer tax rules. 

Coverdell education savings accounts

Section 530 provides an exemption from Federal income tax for Coverdell education 

savings accounts. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997714 added section 530 to the Code. Coverdell 

education savings accounts are certain trusts or custodial accounts that are created or organized 

in the United States exclusively for the purpose of paying the qualified higher education 

expenses of a designated beneficiary. The aggregate annual contributions that can be made by 

all contributors to Coverdell education savings accounts for the same beneficiary is $2,000 per 

year. In the case of contributors who are individuals, the maximum contribution limit is reduced 

for individuals with adjusted gross income between $95,000 and $110,000 ($190,000 to 

$220,000 in the case of married taxpayers filing a joint return). 

Distributions from a Coverdell education savings account are not includible in the 

distributee’s income to the extent that the total distribution does not exceed the qualified 

education expenses incurred by the beneficiary during the year the distribution is made. If a 

distribution from a Coverdell education savings account exceeds the qualified education 

expenses incurred by the beneficiary during the year of the distribution, the portion of the excess 

that is treated as earnings generally is subject to income tax and an additional 10-percent tax. 

Amounts in a Coverdell education savings account may be rolled over to another Coverdell 

education savings account of the same beneficiary or of a member of the family of that 

beneficiary. 

Religious and apostolic organizations

Since 1936, there has been an exemption for certain religious or apostolic 

organizations.715 The exemption is for religious and apostolic associations or corporations which 

conduct communal activities (such as farming) provided that the members claim their shares of 

the corporation’s income on their own individual returns. Religious or apostolic organizations 

are described as religious or apostolic associations or corporations if such associations or 

corporations have a common treasury or community treasury, even if such associations or 

corporations engage in business for the common benefit of the members. However, each 

 714 Pub. L. No. 105-34 (1997). 

715 Sec. 501(d). 
191

member is required to include (at the time of filing their returns) in his or her gross income716 his 

or her entire pro rata shares, whether distributed or not, of the taxable income of the association 

or corporation for such year.717 Contributions to such an exempt association are not deductible 

for Federal income tax purposes, but the association may establish a charitable fund, the 

contributions to which may be deductible. 

Prior to 1936, apostolic organizations were found not to qualify for tax exemption under 

the general rules for religious organizations due to the presence of commercial activities and 

private inurement. An excerpt from the legislative history states the following rationale to 

provide exemption: 

It has been brought to the attention of the committee that certain religious and 

apostolic associations and corporations, such as the House of David and the 

Shakers, have been taxed as corporations, and that since their rules prevent their 

members from being holders of property in an individual capacity the 

corporations would be subject to the undistributed-profits tax. These 

organizations have a small agricultural or other business. The effect of the 

proposed amendment is to exempt these corporations from the normal 

corporations tax and the undistributed-profits tax, if their members take up their 

shares of the corporations’ income on their own individual returns. It is believed 

that this provision will give them relief, and their members will be subject to a fair 

tax.718

Political organizations

Section 527 provides a limited exemption from Federal income tax of “political 

organizations.” Political organizations are defined as a party, committee, association, fund, 

account, or other organization (whether or not incorporated) organized and operated primarily 

for the purpose of directly or indirectly accepting contributions or making expenditures (or both) 

for an “exempt function.” An “exempt function” is defined, in turn, as influencing or attempting 

to influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of any individual to any Federal, 

State, or local public office or office in a political organization, or the election of Presidential or 

Vice-Presidential electors, whether or not such individual or electors are selected, nominated, 

elected, or appointed. A political organization will be subject to the highest rate of corporate 

income tax on its “political organization taxable income” defined as the organization’s gross 

 716 Any amount included in the gross income of the member is treated as a dividend received. 

Treas. Reg. sec. 1.501(d)-1(a); Rev. Rul. 57-574, 1957-2 C.B. 161. 

717 Sec. 501(d). 

718 80 Cong. Rec. 9074 (1936). 
192

income other than “exempt function income,”719 less the deductions directly connected with the 

production of such includible gross income.720

The Tariff Schedules Amendments of 1975721 added section 527 to the Code to clarify 

the tax status of political organizations. In general, the IRS had not required political 

organizations to file tax returns on the ground that the receipts of such organizations were from 

gifts that would not produce taxable income.722 In 1974, however, the IRS ruled that campaign 

committees would be treated as taxable corporations (with contributions being nontaxable).723 

Congress intervened in 1975 to provide limited tax exempt status for political organizations, 

providing for exemption because: 

political activity (including the financing of political activity) as such is not a 

trade or business which is appropriately subject to tax. However, where assets are 

not currently used by a political organization for political activities, but are 

invested for use at a later date, the income from the investment (less direct 

expenses incurred in earning that income) is to be subject to tax.724 

Charitable remainder trusts

Since 1969, there has been an exemption for charitable remainder trusts.725 Charitable 

remainder annuity trusts and charitable remainder unitrusts are exempt from Federal income tax 

for a tax year unless the trust has any unrelated business taxable income for the year. A 

charitable remainder trust that loses exemption from income tax for a taxable year is taxed as a 

regular complex trust. As such, the trust is allowed a deduction in computing taxable income for 

amounts required to be distributed in a taxable year, not to exceed the amount of the trust’s 

 719 Exempt function income includes amounts received as (1) a contribution of money or other 

property; (2) membership dues; (3) proceeds from the conduct of bingo games as described in section 

513(f)(2); and (4) proceeds from a political fund-raising or entertainment event or from the sale of 

political campaign materials other than amounts received in the ordinary course of a trade or business. 

Such amounts are required to be segregated in a separate account or accounts for the “exempt function” of 

the organization. 

720 Sec. 527(c)(1). 

721 Pub. L. No. 93-625 (1975). 

722 S. Rep. No. 93-1357, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 25 (1974). 

723 Rev. Rul. 74-21, 1974-2 C.B. 14, modified by Rev. Rul. 74-475, 1974-2 C.B. 22. 

724 S. Rep. No. 93-1357, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. 25, 26 (1974). 

725 Pub. L. No. 91-172 (1969); sec. 664. 
193

distributable net income for the year. Taxes imposed on the trust are required to be allocated to 

corpus.726

Distributions from a charitable remainder annuity trust or charitable remainder unitrust 

are treated in the following order as: (1) ordinary income to the extent of the trust’s current and 

previously undistributed ordinary income for the trust’s year in which the distribution occurred, 

(2) capital gains to the extent of the trust’s current capital gain and previously undistributed 

capital gain for the trust’s year in which the distribution occurred, (3) other income (e.g., taxexempt income) to the extent of the trust’s current and previously undistributed other income for 

the trust’s year in which the distribution occurred, and (4) corpus.727

In general, distributions to the extent they are characterized as income are includible in 

the income of the beneficiary for the year that the annuity or unitrust amount is required to be 

distributed even though the annuity or unitrust amount is not distributed until after the close of 

the trust’s taxable year.728

A charitable remainder annuity trust is a trust that is required to pay, at least annually, a 

fixed dollar amount of at least five percent of the initial value of the trust to a noncharity for the 

life of an individual or for a period of 20 years or less, with the remainder passing to charity. A 

charitable remainder unitrust is a trust that generally is required to pay, at least annually, a fixed 

percentage of at least five percent of the fair market value of the trust’s assets determined at least 

annually to a noncharity for the life of an individual or for a period 20 years or less, with the 

remainder passing to charity.729

A trust does not qualify as a charitable remainder annuity trust if the annuity for a year is 

greater than 50 percent of the initial fair market value of the trust’s assets. A trust does not 

qualify as a charitable remainder unitrust if the percentage of assets that are required to be 

distributed at least annually is greater than 50 percent. A trust does not qualify as a charitable 

remainder annuity trust or a charitable remainder unitrust unless the value of the remainder 

interest in the trust is at least 10 percent of the value of the assets contributed to the trust. 

 726 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.664-1(d)(2). 

727 Sec. 664(b). 

728 Treas. Reg. sec. 1.664-1(d)(4). 

729 Sec. 664(d). 
194 

VII. APPENDIX 
Congressional Research Service Washington, D.C. 20540-7000

Memorandum February 16, 2005

TO: Joint Committee on Taxation

Attention: Roger Colinvaux

FROM: Erika Lunder

Legislative Attorney

American Law Division

SUBJECT: Non-Tax Benefits Provided to Organizations Described in IRC § 501(c)(3)

This memorandum responds to your request for examples of non-tax benefits provided

to the organizations described in IRC § 501(c)(3) by the federal government, California,

Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. 

We compiled thisinformation by electronically searching the annotated U.S. Code, with

the exception of Title 26, and the state codes. Two separate searches were conducted using

the terms “501(c)(3)” and “501(a).” We also searched the annotated U.S. Code, with the

exception of Title 26, and the unannotated versions of each state’s code using the root form

of “charity” (i.e., charit!). Each search returned hundreds of hits, from which we excluded

inapplicable examples and all tax-related benefits. We also excluded state statutes that

implement federal requirements concerning unemployment compensation.

With respect to format, we have grouped the benefits into four general categories: (1)

the organization is exempt from a provision of law; (2) the organization benefits from a

special rule other than exemption; (3) the organization is able to receive property or nongrant money; and (4) the organization is eligible to participate in a program, which usually

means the organization is eligible to receive grants. There is overlap among these categories,

but each example is only listed once. It is important to note that the examples below are

summaries of the statutes, and we have omitted most qualifications. For example, in most

grant programs, the organization has to be organized for a specific purpose, e.g., to conserve

wetlands. We generally did not include this level of specificity unless it was necessary to

understand the statute.

Per your request, we have included non-tax benefits for nonprofit charitable

organizations even though the benefit is not explicitly dependent on exempt status under IRC

§ 501(c)(3). As we have discussed, the term “nonprofit charitable organization” does not

necessarily correspond with “IRC § 501(c)(3) organization.” None of the five states require

under their nonprofit incorporation laws that the organization be recognized as tax-exempt

under federal law. In order to recognize the potential differences between the two concepts,
CRS-2

we have made it a point to use the language from the statute. Thus, if the statute expressly

mentions IRC § 501(c)(3), it is used in the example; otherwise, some form of the term

“charitable organization” is used.

Federal Government

Exempt From a Provision of Law

8 USC § 1642

There is a requirement to verify that a person applying for certain public benefits is a

qualified alien eligible to receive the benefits. The verification requirement does not apply

to nonprofit charitable organizations.

11 CFR § 100.29

For purposes of federal election law, communications paid for by IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations are not “electioneering communications.”

15 USC § 13c

The Robinson-Patman Antidiscrimination Act, which prohibits price discrimination, does

not apply to purchases made by schools, colleges, universities, public libraries, churches,

hospitals, and charitable institutions not operated for profit, so long as the purchase is for the

organization’s own use.

15 USC § 77c 

Securities exempt from the Securities Act of 1933 include those issued by an issuer

organized and operated exclusively for religious, educational, benevolent, fraternal,

charitable, or reformatory purposes and not for profit, if no part of its earnings inures to the

benefit of a private shareholder or individual, and those by a qualified fund (defined in 15

USC § 80a-3).

15 USC § 78c 

No IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable organization or its trustee, director, officer, employee or

volunteer is a “broker,” “dealer,” “municipal securities broker,” “municipal securities

dealer,” “government securities broker,” or “government securities dealer” solely because

the organization or person buys, holds, sells, or trades in securities for the organization's

account or a qualified fund (defined in 15 USC § 80a-3)

15 USC § 78l

Securities that do not have to be registered include those of an issuer organized and operated

exclusively for religious, educational, benevolent, fraternal, charitable, or reformatory

purposes and not for profit, if no part of its earnings inures to the benefit of a private

shareholder or individual, and those by a qualified fund (defined in 15 USC § 80a-3).

15 USC § 80a-3

Exempt from the definition of investment company is any company organized and operated

exclusively for religious, educational, benevolent, fraternal, charitable, or reformatory

purposes if no part of its earnings inures to the benefit of a private shareholder or individual,

or is or maintains a qualified pooled income fund, collective trust fund, collective investment

fund, or similar fund maintained by a charitable organization. The term “charitable

organization” means an organization described in IRC § 170(c)(1)-(5) or IRC § 501(c)(3).
CRS-3

15 USC § 80a-3a

No charitable organization or its trustee, director, officer, employee or volunteer is required

to register or be subject to regulation as a dealer, broker, agent, or investment adviser under

the securities laws of any state because the organization or person buys, holds, sells, or trades

in securities for its account or a qualified fund (defined in 15 USC § 80a-3)

15 USC § 80b-3 

Exempt from the provision requiring the registration of investment advisors is any

investment advisor that is a charitable organization described in IRC §§ 170(c)(1)-(5) or IRC

§ 501(c)(3). Also exempt is the organization’s trustee, director, officer, employee, or

volunteer if the person’s advice, analyses, or reports are provided only to the organization

and a few others.

15 USC § 1679a

For purposes of regulating credit repair organizations, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are

exempt from the definition of “credit repair organization.”

16 CFR § 310.6

Under the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, telemarketers

calling to solicit charitable contributions are not required to comply with provisions related

to the national “do-not-call” registry, but are required to comply with other requirements.

18 USC § 1955

The prohibition on illegal gambling businesses does not apply to a bingo game, lottery, or

similar game of chance conducted by an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization, if no part of the gross

receipts inures to the benefit of a private shareholder, member, or employee of the

organization, except as compensation for actual expenses incurred.

29 USC § 1803

Nonprofit charitable organizations and educational institutions are exempt from the Migrant

and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.

39 USC § 3009

Except for free samples clearly marked as such and merchandise mailed by a charitable

organization soliciting contributions, the mailing of unordered merchandise or prohibited

communications is an unfair method of competition and an unfair trade practice in violation

of 15 USC § 45(a)(1).

Special Rules

2 USC § 441i

Under federal election law, a federal candidate is restricted in the type of solicitations he or

she may make, but a candidate may make a general solicitation of funds on behalf of certain

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations if the solicitation does not specify how the funds will or

should be spent.

5 USC § 504; 28 USC § 2412

Prevailing parties in civil actions brought against the United States (including agencies and

officials) may be awarded a judgment for costs and reasonable attorneys fees. “Party”

includes any partnership, corporation, association, unit of local government, or organization,

so long as, at the time the civil action was filed, the entity's net worth did not exceed
CRS-4

$7,000,000 and it did not have more than 500 employees. However, IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations may be a party regardless of the organization's net worth.

8 USC § 1101

A “special immigrant” includes an individual who enters the country to work for a religious

organization or an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization that is affiliated with a religious

denomination. 

11 USC § 303(a)

Nonprofit organizations may not be forced into involuntary liquidation or reorganization.

12 USC § 1709 

Under the National Housing Mortgage Insurance Program, the general rule only allows the

insurance of a mortgage that is secured by a 1 to 4-family dwelling if the mortgagor will

occupy the dwelling as his or her principal or secondary residence. This limitation does not

apply to IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that intend to sell or lease the mortgaged property to

low or moderate-income persons.

16 USC § 284c

The Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is eligible to receive federal loans.

When paying the loans back, it may take a credit based on the market value of tickets

contributed to IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

16 USC § 3372

It is unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase

a prohibited wildlife species in interstate or foreign commerce. This generally does not apply

to, among others, accredited IRC § 501(c)(3) wildlife sanctuaries.

20 USC § 1085

Under the Federal Family Education Loan Program, an eligible lender cannot generally have

as its primary consumer credit function the making or holding of loans made to students.

However, there are several exceptions to this rule, one of which is for a bank that is a

wholly-owned subsidiary of an IRC § 501(c)(3) foundation and which makes loans only to

undergraduate students who are less than age 23, although the portfolio of these loans cannot

exceed $5,000,000.

29 USC § 1052

Under ERISA, tax-exempt educational organizations have special minimum participation

standards.

35 USC § 202

Under provisions addressing patent rights in inventions made with federal assistance, IRC

§ 501(c)(3) organizations may be able to elect to retain title to any subject invention. This

rule also applies to small businesses.

39 CFR § 111.1

Religious, educational, scientific, philanthropic, agricultural, labor, fraternal, and veterans’

organizations are eligible for special postal rates so long as the organization is not organized

for profit and none of its net income inures to the benefit of a private stockholder or

individual.
CRS-5

42 USC § 300e-9

For the provision regulating employer contributions to certain health plans with an option of

membership in a qualified health maintenance organization, the term “employer” does not

include churches or qualifying IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that are operated, supervised,

or controlled by a church, convention or association of churches.

42 USC § 1395x

For purposes of the Social Security Act, a religious nonmedical health care institution must

be described in IRC § 501(c)(3). There are special rules that apply to these institutions so

that they and their patients may not be forced to take actions that violate their religious

beliefs.

42 USC § 1397a 

Under the Social Security Act, block grants are provided to states for payments for social

services. Allowable expenditures include those for conferences or workshops and training

or retraining through grants to IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

42 USC § 9607

In general, an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization is not liable, with respect to response costs at a

facility on the National Priorities List, for municipal solid waste disposed of at the facility.

The organization cannot have employed more than 100 individuals at the location that

generated the waste during the year preceding the date it was notified of its potential liability.

42 USC §§ 14503, 14504, and 14505 

The Volunteer Protection Act limits the liability of volunteers of IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations for their actions as volunteers.

49 USC § 13709

This section deals with claims that transportation was provided at rates less than the legal

tariff rates. An IRC § 501(c)(3) organization is not liable for the difference between the

legally-applicable tariff rate and the rate originally paid.

Eligible to Receive Property or Non-Grant Money

2 USC § 117e 

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may receive used or surplus House furniture.

5 USC § 7342

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to receive gifts and decorations that were given

to Members of the Senate or employees of the Senate and are now being disposed of.

10 USC § 2012

Youth and charitable organizations are eligible for support and services from the military

if the assistance is authorized by law or incidental to military training.

10 USC § 2580

IRC § 501(c)(3) religious organizations may receive donated military chapel personal

property to replace property that was damaged or destroyed as a result of an act of arson or

terrorism.
CRS-6

10 USC § 7542

The Secretary of the Navy may sell, at nominal prices, nonregulation and excess clothing to

recognized charitable organizations for distribution to the needy.

16 USC § 18f-2

The Secretary of the Interior may dispose of museum objects and collections that are no

longer needed to IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

29 USC § 169

An employee who has a religious objection to joining or financially supporting labor

organizations may not be required to join or support an organization as a condition of

employment. In lieu of paying dues and fees to the organization, the employee may be

required to pay an equal amount to a nonreligious, nonlabor IRC § 501(c)(3) organization.

32 USC § 508

Members and units of the National Guard may provide services involving ground

transportation, air transportation, administrative support services,technicaltraining services,

emergency medical assistance and services, and communications services to eligible youth

and charitable organizations. 

36 USC § 40706

On dissolution of the Corporation for the Promotion of Rifle Practice and Firearms Safety,

certain assets may be distributed to IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that perform functions

similar to those in the Civilian Marksmanship Program. 

36 USC § 80106

On dissolution of the General Federation of Women's Clubs, its assets may be distributed to

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations with purposes similar to those of the corporation.

40 USC § 550

Various federal agencies may sell or lease property assigned to the agency to IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations.

42 USC § 1472 

The Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to make loans for low-income farm housing

through the Farm Home Administration. In order to prepay the loan, the borrower must

make a binding commitment to extend the low-income use of the property for a period of

time. If this does not happen, the borrower is generally required to sell the property to a

qualified nonprofit charitable organization.

44 USC § 318

The Public Printer may transfer or donate surplus publications and condemned Government

Printing Office machinery, material, equipment, and supplies to IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4)

organizations.

46 USC Appx § 1158

The Secretary of Transportation may convey the government's right, title, and interest in an

obsolete vessel of the National Defense Reserve Fleet to an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization.
CRS-7

Eligible to Participate in a Program (i.e., Receive Assistance)

7 USC § 1726b

The administrator for the Agency for International Development may provide grants to IRC

§ 501(c)(3) organizations for the preparation of shelf-stable prepackaged foods and the

establishment and maintenance of food stockpiles in the United States. The administrator

may also provide grants to private volunteer organizations and international organizations

for the rapid transportation, delivery, and distribution of shelf-stable prepackaged foods to

individuals in foreign countries.

7 USC § 2008o

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for federal grants for activities related to historic

barn preservation.

12 USC §§ 4141-4147

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants for projects relating to acquiring,

rehabilitating, and managing rental or cooperative housing for low and moderate-income

people.

15 USC § 656

Under the Women's Business Center Program, financial assistance is available to IRC §

501(c) organizations for projects addressing the concerns of small businesses owned and

controlled by women. 

15 USC § 1511d

IRC § 501(c) organizations are eligible for assistance under the Chesapeake Bay Fishery and

Habitat Restoration Small Watershed Grants Program. 

16 USC § 742f

The Secretary of the Interior may enter into cooperative agreements with IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations to implement projects for a refuge relating to such things as habitat

maintenance and biological monitoring.

16 USC §§ 1447-1447f

Under the Regional Marine Research Program, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible

for grants from Regional Marine Research Boards.

16 USC § 2105

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for matching grants from the Secretary of the

Interior for urban and community forestry projects.

16 USC §§ 2701- 2708

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations are eligible for financing for the development of

small hydroelectric power projects in connection with existing dams that are not being used

to generate electric power.

16 USC §§ 3451-3460

Under the Resource Conservation and Development Program, IRC § 501(c) organizations

are eligible for technical and financial assistance.
CRS-8

16 USC § 3838q

Under the Grassland Reserve Program, the Secretary of Agriculture may transfer a title of

ownership to a conservation easement to an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization.

16 USC §§ 5403 and 5406

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the National Maritime Heritage

Program.

19 USC § 3391; 42 USC § 5177a

The Secretary of Agriculture may, if he or she determines that the implementation of the

NAFTA Agreement or an emergency or disaster has caused low-income migrant or seasonal

farmworkers to lose income, provide grants to IRC § 501(c)(3)organizations with experience

in providing emergency services to these individuals.

20 USC § 1070 Note

Under the Community Scholarship Mobilization Act, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may

receive an endowment grant for projects to improve graduation rates and postsecondary

attendance in high-poverty areas.

20 USC § 1128a

The Secretary of Education may make grants to an American overseas research center that

is a consortium of institutions of higher education in order to enable the center to promote

postgraduate research, exchanges, and area studies. The center must be an IRC § 501(c)(3)

organization. 

20 USC § 1135

The Secretary ofEducationmakes grants to academic departments and programs that provide

courses of study leading to a graduate degree so that the institutions may provide assistance

to graduate students. As part of this, higher education institutions that grant graduate degrees

may submit joint proposals with certain IRC § 501(c)(3) non-degree granting institutions.

20 USC §§ 5502 and 5505

Under the National Environmental Education Program, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are

eligible for grants for projects to design and demonstrate practices, methods, and techniques

related to environmental education and training.

21 USC §§ 1531-1535

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for assistance under the Drug-Free Communities

Support Program.

25 USC §§ 2206, 3662, and 3663

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants to provide civil and criminal legal

assistance to Indians tribes, organizations, and individuals, and for other projects, such as

developing tribal probate codes and providing estate planning services.

29 USC §§ 701-718

Under the Rehabilitation Act, community rehabilitation programs that assist disabled

individuals with employment and are carried out by IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are

eligible for assistance.
CRS-9

29 USC §§ 2701-2706

Under the Workers Technology Skill Development Act, IRC §§ 501(c)(3), (c)(4) and (c)(5)

organizations are eligible for grants for projects related to identifying and developing

advanced workplace practices and technologies.

36 USC §§ 152601-152611

The Help America Vote Foundation may provide assistance to IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable

and educational organizations to encourage student involvement in the voting process.

42 USC §§ 1395eee and 1396u-4

Under the Social Security Act, PACE providers must be IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

42 USC § 1485

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations are eligible for grants for projects dealing with

housing for the elderly, the disabled, and low and medium-income families in rural areas.

42 USC §§ 1760 and 1784

For purposes of the school lunch programs and child nutrition provisions, “school” includes

IRC § 501(c)(3) private schools and private residential child care institutions. 

42 USC § 5197h

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants for projects addressing the status of

emergency preparedness and disaster response awareness in minority communities.

42 USC § 5306 Note

Certain states must make available a portion of the amount allocated for the state under

section 106(d) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to IRC § 501(c)

organizations for activities designed to meet the water, sewage, and housing needs of the

residents of colonias.

42 USC § 5601 et seq.

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants for a variety of purposes relating to

juvenile delinquency prevention and services for runawayand homeless youth. Additionally,

surplus federal facilities may be leased to IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations for use as homeless

or transitional youth centers.

42 USC §§ 6371-6371j and 6372-6732i

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations are eligible for grants for projects identifying

energy and cost savings that would come from building modification or maintenance,

including the installation of energy conservation measures.

42 USC § 8013

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for assistance to expand the supply of supportive

housing available for people with disabilities.

42 USC § 9660 

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants for projects intended to develop and

evaluate alternative or innovative health treatment technologies.
CRS-10

42 USC § 9926

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations are eligible for grants to provide technical and

financial assistance to private employers to assist them in creating employment and business

opportunities for certain individuals.

42 USC §§ 10701-10713

The State Justice Institute may provide grants to nonprofit organizations for projects to

develop improved judicial administration in state courts.

California

Exempt From a Provision of Law

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 4980.01

The provisions regulating marriage, family, and child counselors do not apply to an employee

of a nonprofit charitable institution.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 7522

The provisions requiring licensing and registration for private investigators do not apply to

a charitable philanthropic society or association that is organized and maintained for the

public good and not for private profit.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 7582.2

The provisions requiring licensing and registration for private security services do not apply

to a charitable philanthropic society or association that is organized and maintained for the

public good and not for private profit.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 16100

While a town may impose license fees on the business activities it may regulate, no fee that

is measured by the licensee’s income or gross receipts can be imposed on a nonprofit

organization that is exempt from tax under state or federal law.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 17500.3

The general rule is that it is unlawful to solicit a sale of goods or services at the residence of

a prospective buyer, whether in person or by telephone, without expressly revealing that the

purpose of the contact is to effect a sale. This rule does not apply to nonprofit charitable

organizations.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 17510.3

Under the rules regarding solicitation for charitable purposes, if an organization making the

solicitation represents a non-governmental organization with a name that includes “veteran”

or “veterans” so that it would be reasonable to think the organization is composed of

veterans, then the solicitor must give the total number of members in the organization. This

rule does not apply to a community-based organization that provides direct services to

veterans and their families and qualifies as an IRC § 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) organization.

Also, no disclosure requirement applies to a volunteer who is under age 18 and receives no

compensation of any type from a solicitation by an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization.
CRS-11

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 17911

The chapter on fictitious business names does not apply to a nonprofit corporation or

association.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 21662

Provisions regulating swap meets and open air markets do not apply to an event held less

than three times a year that is organized for the exclusive benefit of a religious, educational,

or charitable organization, if no part of the earnings inures to the benefit of a private

shareholder or person participating in the organization or event.

Cal. Civil Code § 1742.6

Charitable organizations may be exempted from the disclosure requirements that arise for

art dealers who are conducting a sale or auction of fine art.

Cal. Civil Code § 1789.12

For purposes ofregulatingcredit service organizations, the term “credit service organization”

does not include IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that are not private foundations.

Cal. Civil Code § 1812.67

The provisions regulating contracts for dance studio lessons do not apply to IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations that receive funds from the California Arts Council.

Cal. Civil Code § 1812.300

The provisions regulating membership camping contracts do not apply to IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations.

Cal. Corp. Code § 25100

Securities exempt from registration requirements include those of an issuer organized

exclusively for educational, benevolent, fraternal,religious, charitable, social, or reformatory

purposes and not for pecuniary profit, if no part of the net earnings of the issuer inures to the

benefit of a private shareholder or individual. The exemption does not apply if the promoter

intends to make a profit. Also exempt from the requirements are “life income contracts” that

are issued by an issuer organized exclusively for educational, benevolent, fraternal, religious,

charitable, social, or reformatory purposes.

Cal. Corp. Code § 25102

Securities transactions exempt from registration requirements include sales of securities

made to qualified purchasers. Qualified purchasers include IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

Also exempt is the offer or sale of a viatical or life settlement contract if issued by an IRC

§ 501(c)(3) organization.

Cal. Financial Code § 3372

For an individual who is an executive officer of a bank or a director or executive officer of

a company, the company is deemed to be a related interest of that individual for certain

sections of Regulation O. However, this rule does not apply to an extension of credit by a

bank to a nonprofit company engaged in religious, charitable, educational, scientific, literary,

social, or recreational purposes, so long as the individual does not receive compensation in

excess of $1,000 per year for serving as director or executive officer.
CRS-12

Cal. Financial Code § 12104

For the provisions regulating check sellers, bill payers, and proraters, nonprofit community

service organizations are exempt from requirements imposed on proraters.

Cal. Food and Ag. Code § 62093

The giving of any dairy product, service, or article for the purpose of securing or retaining

the market milk business of a customer is an unlawful trade practice. This rule does not

apply if the donee is a bona fide charity.

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 18897

For the provisions regulating organized camps, the term “organized camp” does not include

a charitable or recreational organization that complies with the rules and regulations for

recreational trailer parks.

Cal. Insurance Code § 14022

The Insurance Adjusters Act does not apply to nonprofit charitable organizations.

Cal. Insurance Code § 15008

The Public Insurance Adjusters Act does not apply to nonprofit charitable organizations.

Cal. Labor Code §§ 1308 and 1308.2

Charitable corporations are exempt from the registration requirement that arises when

employing minors under the age of 16 in door-to-door sales.

Cal. Labor Code § 1720.4

Under the provisions regulating public works, the term “public works” does not include work

performed by a volunteer performing services for an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization.

Cal. Labor Code § 2051

In the provisions regulating car washes, the term “employer” does not include any charitable,

youth, service, veteran, or sports organization that conducts car washing on an intermittent

basis to raise funds for charitable, education, or religious purposes.

Cal. Penal Code § 186.22a

A building or place used by members of a criminal street gang for the purpose of the

commission of a crime is a nuisance that will be enjoined and abated. However, no nonprofit

or charitable organization that is conducting its affairs with ordinary care or skill will be

abated.

Cal. Public Utilities Code § 5353

The provisions regulating charter-party carriers of passengers do not apply to transportation

services provided by an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization that are incidental to the operation of

a youth camp.

Cal. Vehicle Code § 286

For purposes of regulating vehicle dealers, the term “dealer” does not include IRC §

501(c)(3) organizations that sell donated vehicles.
CRS-13

Special Rules

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 5442.13

Notwithstanding other provisions of law, an IRC § 501(c)(3) educational academy may have

an advertising display in Los Angeles.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 6072

A contract with the state for legal services that exceeds $50,000 must include a certification

that the law firm agrees to make a good faith effort to provide, during the duration of the

contract, a minimum number of hours of pro bono legal services. Pro bono legal services

include services to charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental, and educational

organizations to address the economic, health, and social needs of persons who are indigent

or of limited means.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 23357.3

A beer manufacturer may conduct beer tastings off its premises if the event is sponsored by

a nonprofit organization and the people attending the event are affiliated with the sponsor.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 23363.2

A distilled spirits manufacturer not licensed in California may designate a California licensee

to conduct tastings of distilled spirits off the licensee's premises if the event is sponsored by

a nonprofit organization and the people attending the event are affiliated with the sponsor.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 23396.2

A wine, food and art cultural museum in Napa County that is operated by an IRC § 501(c)(3)

organization is eligible for a general license to sell wine and food.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 24045.1

A temporary on-sale general license may be issued to an organization formed for a specific

charitable or civic purpose for the sale of distilled spirits, wine, and beer for consumption on

the premises where sold.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 24045.4

Special temporary off-sale general licenses are available to IRC § 501(c)(3) nonprofit

corporations to sell donated alcoholic beverages at auction.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 24045.6

Special temporary on-sale or off-sale wine licenses are available to IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and

501(c)(6) corporations.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 24045.7

Special on-sale alcoholic licenses are available to IRC § 501(c)(3) theater companies. 

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 24045.85

Special on-sale alcoholic licenses are available to IRC § 501(c)(3) symphony associations.

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 24045.14

On-sale general alcohol licenses may be granted to IRC § 501(c)(3) maritime museum

associations.
CRS-14

Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § 24045.16

An IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable arts trust that meets specific requirements is eligible for an

on-sale public eating place license. 

Cal. Civil Code § 815.3

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations with environmental purposes are eligible to hold conservation

easements.

Cal. Civil Code § 1714.25

A nonprofit charitable organization or food bank that receives and distributes food without

charge that is fit for human consumption at the time it was distributed is not liable for any

injury or death due to the food unless the injury or death is a direct result of the negligent,

reckless, or intentional misconduct of the organization.

Cal. Corp. Code §§ 5047.5 and 24001.5

In general, no cause of action for monetary damages arises against a person serving without

compensation as a director or officer of a nonprofit corporation on account of any negligent

act or omission occurring within the scope of that person's duties if the person was acting in

good faith, in a manner that the person believed to be in the best interest of the corporation,

and in the exercise of his or her policymaking judgment. These sections only apply to IRC

§§ 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(6) organizations.

Cal. Corp. Code § 5239

In general, a volunteer director or executive officer of a nonprofit corporation is not liable

for injuries caused by the person’s negligent act or omission so long as the act or omission

was within the scope of the person’s duties, was performed in good faith, and was not

reckless, wanton, intentional, or grossly negligent. The damages caused by the act or

omission must be covered pursuant to a liability insurance policy or the organization must

show it made a good faith effort to get the insurance.

Cal. Fish and Game Code § 7151

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may receive a free sportfishing licence.

Cal. Education Code § 51520

During school hours, and within one hour before and after school, pupils at a public school

may not be solicited on school premises to subscribe or contribute to, to become members

of, or to work for any organization not under the control of school authorities. This rule does

not apply if the organization is a nonpartisan charitable organization organized by an act of

Congress or under the laws of the state, the purpose of the solicitation is nonpartisan and

charitable, and the solicitation has been approved by school authorities.

Cal. Education Code § 69982

Under the Golden State Scholarships Trust Act, contributions by IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations operating scholarship programs for the benefit of beneficiaries to be named

when the scholarships are awarded are not subject to maximum contribution limits.

Cal. Gov. Code §§ 831.2, 831.25, 831.4, 831.5, and 831.7

IRC § 501(c)(3) land trusts that preserve open space or increase opportunities for the public

to enjoy access to and the use of natural resources are limited in their potential liability for

injuries occurring on their property.
CRS-15

Cal. Gov. Code §§ 53075.6 and 53075.61; Cal. Public Utilities Code § 5411.5

Peace officer and public employees may impound taxicabs that do not have proper permits

or are otherwise in violation of the law. However, a vehicle owned or operated by an IRC

§ 501(c)(3) organization that serves youth or senior citizens and provides transportation

incidental to its programs or services may not be impounded.

Cal. Insurance Code § 10270.2

Blanket insurance includes a policyissued to a religious, charitable, recreational, educational,

athletic or civic organization that provides benefits to members, employees, or participants

for death or dismemberment or for hospital, medical, surgical, or nursing expenses resulting

from activities sponsored or supervised by the organization.

Cal. Insurance Code § 11580.1

No policy of automobile liability insurance may be issued, amended, or renewed if it

excludes from coverage the operation of an insured motor vehicle by the named insured in

the performance of volunteer social service transportation for a nonprofit charitable

organization. Also, no policy of insurance may be canceled by an insurer solely because the

named insured is performing these volunteer services.

Cal. Insurance Code §§ 11580.2 and 11580.25

No motor vehicle will be classified as a common carrier, livery, or for-hire vehicle solely

because the named insured is performing volunteer social service transportation for a

nonprofit charitable organization.

Cal. Military and Veterans Code § 999.51

IRC § 501(c)(3) veterans’ service agencies are eligible for certification as a small business

under the Small Business Procurement and Contract Act.

Cal. Probate Code § 2104

A nonprofit charitable corporation may be appointed as a guardian or conservator of a person

or estate.

Cal. Probate Code § 15604

An IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable corporation may be appointed as trustee of a trust.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 41904

A city, county, district, or regional agency may structure its fees for solid waste handling or

disposal services so that charitable reusers are exempt or pay reduced fees. Charitable

reusers are IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that reuse and recycle donated goods or materials

and receive more than 50 percent of their revenues from the handling and sale of those

donated goods or materials.

Cal. Public Utilities Code § 530

Common carriers may transport persons for charitable purposes for free or at reduced rates.

Cal. Vehicle Code § 5060

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may apply to participate in the special interest license plate

program.
CRS-16

Eligible to Receive Property or Non-Grant Money

Cal. Civil Code § 987

Artists have a cause of action for the physical alteration or destruction of their works of fine

art. If punitive damages are awarded, the court will donate the punitive damages to a

charitable or educational fine arts organization.

Cal. Education Code §§ 17546, 60510, and 81452

School property may be donated to charitable organizations if it is of insufficient value to

defray the costs of arranging a sale.

Cal. Education Code § 38134

School facilities and grounds may be used by nonprofit organizations and clubs or

associations organized to promote youth and school activities.

Cal. Fish and Game Code § 1002

Fishing permits may be granted to a student who is regularly enrolled in a commercial fishing

class and to the class's faculty. All the fish taken must be either sold to a person licensed to

receive fish from commercial fishermen or donated to a charitable institution.

Cal. Fish and Game Code § 12161

Birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibia that are seized due to illegal activity may be

donated to a charitable institution if the animal is worth less than $100.

Cal. Fish and Game Code § 12162

If a seizure of birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, or amphibia occurs and it cannot be determined

who took, possessed, sold, imported, or transported them contrary to law, then the animals

may be sold or donated to a charitable institution.

Cal. Fish and Game Code § 12164

Any bird or mammal confiscated from a person convicted of trespassing may be donated to

a charitable institution.

Cal. Food and Ag. Code § 450.40

Avocados in the state's custody may be donated to nonprofit charitable organizations.

Cal. Food and Ag. Code § 884

Perishable food in the state's custody may be donated to nonprofit charitable organizations.

Cal. Food and Ag. Code §§ 58887 and 59807

With respect to marketing orders, any portion of a surplus pool may be donated to a

charitable organization under proper safeguards to insure that none of the commodity will

compete with the unrestricted portion of the commodity.

Cal. Gov. Code §§ 1151, 1157.2, and 21265

State employees and retirees may authorize deductions to be made from their wages or

retirement payments for charitable contributions.

Cal. Gov. Code §§ 3515.7, 3502.5, 3546.3, 3584, and 71814; Public Utilities Code § 99566.2

Employees with religious objections to supporting employee organizations may be required

to pay an amount equal to the organization’s fees to a charitable organization. 
CRS-17

Cal. Gov. Code § 25372

A county may donate or lease any surplus real or personal property to IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations.

Cal. Gov. Code § 51075

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to hold conservation easements under the OpenSpace Easement Act.

Cal. Penal Code § 502.01

Property that was forfeited because it was used in committing telecommunications or

computer crimes may be distributed to nonprofit charitable organizations.

Cal. Street and Highways Code § 118.7

The state may transfer environmental mitigation property located within the city limits of

Huntington Beach to an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization that is organized for conservation

purposes.

Eligible to Participate in a Program (i.e., Receive Assistance)

Cal. Education Code § 8448

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the Child Care and Development

Services Act.

Cal. Education Code § 13020

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the California Civil Liberties

Public Education Grant Program.

Cal. Education Code § 20052

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the California Cultural and

Historical Endowment Act.

Cal. Education Code § 56404

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to receive funding to establish Family

Empowerment Centers on Disability.

Cal. Fish and Game Code § 1390

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the California Riparian Habitat

Conservation Program.

Cal. Gov. Code § 66905.9

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the California Tahoe Conservancy.

Cal. Gov. Code § 68058

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the Fresno Metropolitan Projects

Act.

Cal. Gov. Code § 95502

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for contracts as nonprofit facilitators under the

California Savings and Asset Project.
CRS-18

Cal. Health and Safety Code §§ 33741, 34377, 52100, and 52101

Multifamily rental housing bonds may be issued to provide loans to IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, refinancing, or

development of multifamily rental housing.

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 50650.5

Mutual housing developments owned and operated by IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are

eligible for financial assistance under the CALHome Program.

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 50781

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizationsare eligiblefor assistance from the Mobilehome Park Purchase

Fund.

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 50836

The California Housing Insurance Fund may use its resources to assist IRC § 501(c)(3)

corporations, redevelopment agencies, local finance agencies, and certain for-profit

corporations.

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 50843

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for matching grants under the Local Housing Trust

Fund Matching Grant Program.

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 129010

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may participate in the Health Facility Construction Loan

Insurance Program.

Cal. Health and Safety Code § 130200

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for a state contract to establish a Parkinson's

Disease Community Outreach, Diagnosis, and Treatment Project.

Cal. Penal Code § 4024.2

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to participate in prison work release programs.

Cal. Penal Code § 13825.4

Community-based organizations and nonprofit agencies may receive funding under the

California Gang, Crime, and Violence Prevention Partnership Program.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 5004.5

IRC § 501(c)(3) community-based organizations are eligible for grants under the California

Youth Soccer and Recreation Development Program.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 5079.01

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the California Heritage Fund.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 5095.5

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the State Urban Parks and Healthy

Communities Act.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 5096.348

IRC § 501(c)(3) youth service organizations are eligible for grants under the Murray-Hayden

Urban Parks and Youth Service Program.
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Cal. Public Resources Code § 5096.605

IRC § 501(c)(3) public benefit corporations are eligible for grants under the California Clean

Water, Clean Air, Safe Neighborhood Parks, and Coastal Protection Act.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 5642

IRC § 501(c)(3) public benefit corporations are eligible for grants under the Urban Park Act.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 5752

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the California River Parkways

Act.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 5902

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the California Wildlife, Coastal,

and Park Land Conservation Act.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 10221

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to participate in theAgricultural Land Stewardship

Program.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 10280.5

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the Agricultural Protection

Planning Grant Program.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 25411

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations are eligible for energy conservation assistance.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 30910

IRC §§ 501(c)(3), (c)(4), and (c)(5) organizations are eligible for grants under the Watershed,

Clean Beaches, and Water Quality Act.

Cal. Public Resources Code §§ 31013 and 31402.3

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the State Coastal Conservancy

Fund.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 32504

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the San Joaquin River

Conservancy.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 32553

IRC § 510(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the Baldwin Hills Conservancy.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 32632

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the San Diego River Conservancy.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 33204.2

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the Santa Monica Mountains

Conservancy.

Cal. Public Resources Code § 33302

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
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Cal. Public Resources Code § 33601

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the Coachella Valley Mountains

Conservancy.

Cal. Public Utilities Code § 280.5

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants to fund community technology programs

under the Digital Divide Grant Program.

Cal. Public Utilities Code § 884

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that work to bring technology to areas with limited or no

access may receive grants under the Nonprofit Community Technology Program.

Cal. Unemployment Insurance Code § 14004

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for funding under the California Community and

Faith Based Initiative.

Cal. Water Code § 79078

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(5) organizations are eligible for grants under the Watershed

Protection Program.

Cal. Water Code § 79148.2

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(5) organizations are eligible for grants under the Coastal

Nonpoint Source Control Program. 

Cal. Water Code § 79505

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants to participate in the CALFED Bay-Delta

Program (environmental program for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Estuary ecosystem).

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code § 14088.18

Under the Primary Care Provider Case Management Program, IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and

501(c)(25)(c)(iii) organizations that provide health care to the medically underserved are

eligible for a one-time interest-bearing loan, repayable at the Pooled Money Investment

Account rate.

Cal. Welfare and Institutions Code § 18238

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that provide self-employment training, technical assistance,

and access to microloans to individuals seeking to become self-employed are eligible to

participate in the Microenterprise Demonstration Project.

Florida

Exempt From a Provision of Law

Fla. Stat. § 316.615

A bus operated by an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization is exempt from the color,

pupil-warning-lamp-system,stop-arm, and crossing-arm requirements for school buses if the

bus does not pick up pupils from home or deliver pupils to home and the bus is not operated

by or under the purview of the state or a political subdivision.
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Fla. Stat. § 316.2045

It is unlawful, without proper authorization or a lawful permit, for any person to willfully

obstruct the free, convenient, and normal use of a public street, highway, or road in order to

solicit. This rule does not apply to IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations for activities on streets or

roads not maintained by the state.

Fla. Stat. § 320.64

A motor vehicle license can be suspended or revoked if the licensee sells a vehicle to a retail

consumer except through a motor vehicle dealer holding a franchise agreement for the

vehicle's line-make. This rule does not apply if the buyer is a charitable nonprofit

organization.

Fla. Stat. § 468.383

The provisionsregulating auctioneers do not apply to auctions conducted by charitable, civic,

and religious organizations.

Fla. Stat. § 475.011

Provisions regulating real estate brokers and sales associates do not apply to a trustee for a

trust with a charitable or philanthropic purpose.

Fla. Stat. § 479.16

Outdoor signs owned by and related to the facilities and activities of churches and civic,

fraternal and charitable organizations may be exempt from the requirement to obtain a

permit.

Fla. Stat. § 484.059

The licensing requirements that apply to the fitting and dispensing of hearing aids do not

apply to any person engaged in recommending hearing aids as part of a program conducted

by a public charitable institution supported primarily by voluntary contributions, so long as

the organization does not dispense or sell hearing aids or accessories.

Fla. Stat. § 489.503

The provisions regulating electrical and alarm system contracting do not apply to the

monitoring of a personal emergency response system by a charitable corporation acting in

accordance with a contractual agreement with the state so long as the organization does not

perform any other service requiring certification or registration.

Fla. Stat. § 499.012

Under the provisions regulating the wholesale distribution of prescription drugs, the term

“wholesale distribution” does not include, to the extent otherwise permitted by law, the sale,

purchase, or trade of a prescription drug by an IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable organization to a

nonprofit affiliate of the organization, or the donation of a prescription drug by a health care

entity to an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization that is authorized to possess prescription drugs.

Fla. Stat. § 501.022

In provisions regulating home solicitation sales, the permit requirement does not apply to

solicitors, salespersons, or agents making calls or soliciting orders on behalf of religious,

charitable, scientific, educational and veterans’ organizations that are exempt from the state

sales tax.
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Fla. Stat. § 501.059

In general, a telephone solicitor or person who offers for sale any consumer information that

includes telephone numbers must screen and exclude those numbers which appear on the donot-call list. This rule does not apply to directory assistance and telephone directories sold

by telephone companies or IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

Fla. Stat. § 501.604

The Florida Telemarketing Act generally does not apply to a person soliciting for religious,

charitable, political, or educational purposes. A person soliciting for other noncommercial

purposes is exempt only if that person is soliciting for a nonprofit IRC § 501(c)(3) or (6)

corporation.

Fla. Stat. § 517.051

Securities are exempt from the registration requirement if issued by a corporation organized

and operated exclusively for religious, educational, benevolent, fraternal, charitable, or

reformatory purposes and not for pecuniary profit, if no part of its net earnings inures to the

benefit of a private stockholder or individual.

Fla. Stat. § 538.03

The provisions regulating secondhand dealers do not apply to secondhand goods transactions

involving a religious or charitable organization, other than a secondary metals recycler.

Fla. Stat. § 538.22

The provisions regulating secondary metals recyclers do not apply to purchases of regulated

metals propertyfromcharitable, philanthropic, religious, fraternal, civic, patriotic, social, and

school-sponsored organizations.

Fla. Stat. § 546.006

An amusement ride or amusement attraction that is owned and operated by a nonprofit

religious, educational, or charitable organization is generally exempt from the Amusement

Ride and Attraction Insurance Act.

Fla. Stat. § 561.501

Organizations exempt under IRC §§ 501(c)(3), (4), (5), 6), (7), (8,) or (19) are exempt from

the surcharge on the sale of liquor.

Fla. Stat. § 689.19

Reverter and forfeiture provisions of unlimited duration in the conveyance of real estate are

deemed an unreasonable restraint on alienation and contrary to public policy. This rule does

not apply to conveyances made to educational, literary, scientific, religious, public utility,

public transportation, and charitable organizations.

Fla. Stat. § 689.225

The rule against perpetuities does not apply to a nonvested property interest held by a charity

if the interest is preceded by an interest held by another charity, government, or governmental

agency or subdivision.

Fla. Stat. § 817.7001 

For purposes of regulatingcreditservice organizations, the term “credit service organization”

does not include IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.
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Fla. Stat. § 849.0931 

Under the bingo rules, IRC § 501(c) organizations that are engaged in charitable, civic,

community, benevolent, religious, or scholastic works or other similar activities may conduct

bingo games without having to return all the money in the form of prizes. If a game is

conducted by a condominium association, cooperative association, homeowners' association,

or mobile home owners' association and there are net proceeds remaining, then the proceeds

may be donated to an IRC § 501(c) organization.

Fla. Stat. § 849.094

Operators of game promotions (e.g., a contest, game of chance or gift enterprise that is

conducted with the sale of consumer products or services and in which the elements of

chance and prize are present) are prohibited from certain activities. The term “operator” does

not include a charitable nonprofit organization.

Fla. Stat. § 849.0935

Organizations described in IRC §§ 501(c)(3), (4), (7), (8), (10), and (19) are exempt from

criminal statutes that prohibit conducting drawings by chance.

Special Rules

Fla. Stat. § 155.40

If a county, district, or municipal hospital is sold or leased to a nonprofit Florida corporation

or enters into a lease with a nonprofit Florida corporation for purposes of operating the

hospital, one of the terms of the contract must be that the nonprofit entity is an IRC §

501(c)(3) organization.

Fla. Stat. §§ 253.025 and 259.041

Appraisal reports dealing with the acquisition of state lands are confidential for a period of

time. However, the reports may be disclosed to IRC § 501(c)(3) environmental organizations

when joint acquisition of the property is contemplated or when the organization enters into

a written agreement with the state to purchase and hold the property for subsequent resale

to the state. Additionally, the state may use appraisals obtained by an IRC § 501(c)(3)

organization. 

Fla. Stat § 255.60

The state or a political subdivision may contract for public services work outside the

competitive bidding process rules if the contractor or supplier is an IRC § 501(c)(3)

organization that is organized as a charitable youth organization for at-risk youths enrolled

in a work-study program.

Fla. Stat. § 259.101

Under the Florida Preservation 2000 Act, certain criteria must be considered for evaluating

whether the state should acquire coastal lands. These include the value of acquiring coastal

high-hazard parcels; the value of acquiring beachfront parcels to provide public access and

recreational opportunities in highly developed urban areas; and the value of acquiring parcels

whose development would adversely affect coastal resources. When an IRC § 501(c)(3)

environmental organization sells land to the state, such land is deemed to meet the criteria

if the land had met one or more of the criteria at the time the organization purchased it.
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Fla. Stat. § 316.72

An educational, recreational, religious, or charitable organization may own, operate, rent, or

lease a bus with features that normally characterize a school bus so long as it is consistent

with other provisions of law.

Fla. Stat. § 376.3072

An owner or operator of a petroleum storage system may be insured under the Florida

Petroleum Liability and Restoration Insurance Program. If the owner is a charitable

institution and the application was filed before January 1, 1995, then the owner is eligible

for $300,000 of restoration costs, less a deductible.

Fla. Stat. § 376.82. 

An IRC § 501(c)(3) national land conservation corporation that purchases title to property

for the purpose of conveying it to a governmental entity for conservation, historical

preservation, park or similar purposes is not liable for penalties or remediation costs in

connection with environmental contamination found in the soil or groundwater of the

property. This rules does not apply if the corporation caused the original deposit or release

of the environmental contaminants, or if the organization does not provide the state and local

pollution control program access to the land for investigation, remediation, or monitoring

purposes.

Fla. Stat. § 386.203 

For purposes of state law limiting indoor smoking in the workplace, the term “enclosed

indoor workplace” does not include any facility owned or leased by organizations described

in IRC §§ 501(c)(3), (4), (7), (8), (10), (19) and 501(d) so long as the facility is used

exclusively for noncommercial activities performed by members and their guests.

Fla. Stat. § 393.15. 

The general rule is that any loan granted by the Community Resources Development Trust

fund must be repaid within 5 years. A program that operates as an IRC § 501(c)(3)

corporation and wishes to seek forgiveness of its loan may submit a statement and, if the

statement is approved, the state will forgive 20% of the loan's principal granted after June

30, 1975.

Fla. Stat. § 403.706

Underthe provisions addressinglocal governments’ solid waste responsibilities, counties and

municipalities may grant a solid waste fee waiver to nonprofit organizations engaged in the

collection of donated goods for charitable purposes that have a recycling or reuse rate of at

least 50%.

Fla. Stat. Chapter 406

Charitable organizations may claim dead bodies.

Fla. Stat. §§ 413.032-413.037

Under the Blind Services Program, qualified nonprofit agenciesthat employblind or disabled

individuals are generally preferred sources for state procurement.

Fla. Stat. §§ 455.214, 456.015, 458.3124, 458.317, 459.0075, and 464.0205; Fla. Stat. §

497.143 (effective October 1, 2005) 

Florida has various statutes that allow retired individuals to obtain a limited license to

provide services in his or her prior profession. The general rules is that the recipient may
CRS-25

practice only in the employ of public agencies or institutions or IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations, and provide services only to the indigent, underserved, or critical-need

populations within the state. 

Fla. Stat. § 496.419

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are subject to a lesser fine for violating the rules regulating

the solicitation of funds.

Fla. Stat. § 550.70

The chapter regulating certain games does not prohibit any fronton, jai alai plant, or facility

from being used to conduct amateur jai alai or pelota contests or games by a charitable, civic,

or nonprofit organization if only players other than those usually used in jai alai contests or

games are permitted to play and if adults and minors may participate as players or spectators.

Fla. Stat. § 561.20

A special alcohol license may be issued to a performing arts center to allow alcohol

consumption on its premises so long as the consumption generally occurs only in conjunction

with an artistic, educational, cultural, promotional, civic, or charitable event.

Fla. Stat. § 601.50

The Department of Citrus may permit the sale or shipment of citrus fruit without the issuance

of an inspection certificate and without the grade being shown on the container if the fruit

is to be used for charitable or unemployment relief purposes.

Fla. Stat. § 617.0833

Under the nonprofit corporation laws, loans may generally not be made by a corporation to

its directors or officers or to any entity in which its directors or officers is a director or officer

or holds a substantial financial interest. This rule does not apply to a loan by an IRC §

501(c)(3) corporation to another IRC § 501(c)(3) corporation.

Fla. Stat. § 617.0834

In general, an officer or director of an IRC § 501(c)(3), (4), (5), or (6) organization is not

personally liable for monetary damages for any statement, vote, decision, or failure to take

an action regarding organizational management or policy, unless there was a breach of duty.

Fla. Stat. § 626.99287

The general rule is that if a viatical settlement contract is entered into within the 2-year

period commencing with the date of issuance of the insurance policy or certificate to be

acquired, the contract is void and unenforceable. However, such a contract is not void if the

owner of the policy is an IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Fla. Stat. § 627.404

An IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable organization may own or purchase life insurance on an insured

who consents to the ownership or purchase of that insurance.

Fla. Stat. § 704.06

Conservation easements may be acquired by a charitable corporation or trust whose purposes

include protecting the environment or preserving sites or properties of historical,

architectural, archaeological, or cultural significance.
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Fla. Stat. § 709.08

An IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable or religious organization that has qualified as a

court-appointed guardian prior to January 1, 1996, may act as an attorney in fact. 

Fla. Stat. § 732.281

Upon the admission to probate of any will in which an educational, religious, or charitable

institution is named as a beneficiary, the personal representative must notify the institution

by registered mail.

Fla. Stat. § 744.309 

A nonprofit corporation organized for religious or charitable purposes may be appointed

guardian for a ward.

Fla. Stat. § 768.136

A bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization that accepts, collects, transports, or

distributes any canned or perishable food that is apparently fit for human consumption from

a good faith donor or gleaner for free distribution is not subject to criminal penalty or civil

damages arising from the condition of the food. This rules does not apply if the injury was

caused by the gross negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct of an agent of the

organization.

Fla. Stat. § 817.311

It is a misdemeanor to wear or display a badge, button, insignia or other emblem, or to use

the name of or claim to be a member of a benevolent, fraternal, social, humane, or charitable

organization if the organization is entitled to the exclusive use of the name and emblem,

unless the wearer is entitled to do so.

Fla. Stat. § 1002.33 

Charter schools that are operated by IRC § 501(c)(3) corporations are eligible for up to a

10-year charter, subject to approval by the district school board.

Fla. Stat. § 1009.98

Under Florida's prepaid college program, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may purchase

advance payment contracts for an approved scholarship program.

Eligible to Receive Property or Non-Grant Money

Fla. Stat. § 40.24

The IRC § 501(c)(3) organization specified by the guardian ad litem program is eligible to

receive donations of jurors' compensation.

Fla. Stat. § 106.141

Any candidate with surplus funds in his/her campaign account must distribute the funds by

returning pro rata contributions to contributors, donating the funds to an IRC § 501(c)(3)

organization, or giving limited amounts to political party, state campaign trust fund, general

revenue fund of state or local subdivision, or certain office accounts. If the money is given

to an office account, any amounts left over may be given to an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization

or general revenue fund of the state or a local subdivision.
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Fla. Stat. § 110.181

Organizations must have IRC § 501(c)(3) status to participate in Florida State Employee's

Charitable Campaign.

Fla. Stat. §§ 273.01 and 273.005

Surplus state-owned tangible personal property may be given to charitable organizations

exempt under IRC § 501.

Fla. Stat. § 370.061

Property confiscated for being illegal saltwater products, illegally taken saltwater products,

or illegal fishing gear may be given to charitable institutions.

Fla. Stat. § 372.73

Confiscated game and freshwater fish may be given to a hospital or charitable institution.

Fla. Stat. § 550.0351

Charities exempt under the IRC are eligible to receive proceeds from special “charity days”

horseracing, dogracing, or jai alai events.

Fla. Stat. § 562.44

Alcoholic beverages and raw materials used for the manufacture of alcoholic beverages that

are seized and forfeited under the Beverage Law may be donated to charitable institutions

with a legitimate use for the property.

Fla. Stat. § 705.105

Law enforcement agencies may donate unclaimed evidence or unclaimed tangible personal

property that was lawfully seized to charitable organizations.

Fla. Stat. § 705.103

Lost or abandoned property on public property may be donated to charitable organizations.

Fla. Stat. § 1006.41

Educational instructional materials that are unserviceable or surplus may be donated to

public education programs and to charitable organizations.

Eligible to Participate in a Program (i.e., Receive Assistance)

Fla. Stat. § 68.099

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for state contracts to provide funding for civil legal

assistance to the poor.

Fla. Stat. § 159.27

Schools owned by IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations qualify for financing under the Florida

Industrial Development Bond Program.

Fla. Stat. § 159.608

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from housing finance authorities.

Fla. Stat. § 163.05

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for state contracts under the Small County

Technical Assistance Program.
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Fla. Stat. § 163.457

IRC § 501(c)(3) community-based development organizations may seek assistance underthe

Community Redevelopment Program.

Fla. Stat. § 259.105

IRC § 501(c)(3) environmental organizations are eligible for grants underthe Florida Forever

Act for the acquisition of community-based projects, urban open spaces, parks, and

greenways.

Fla. Stat. §§ 265.603 and 265.606

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations are eligible for matching funds under the Cultural

Endowment Program.

Fla. Stat. § 265.608

IRC § 501(c)(3) science museums are eligible for grants from the Cultural Institutions Trust

Fund.

Fla. Stat. § 265.609

IRC § 501(c)(3) youth and children's museums are eligible for grants from the Cultural

Institutions Trust Fund.

Fla. Stat. §§ 265.701 and 265.702

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) corporations are eligible for grants for the acquisition,

renovation, and construction of cultural facilities.

Fla. Stat. § 370.25

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the Artificial Reef Program.

Fla. Stat. § 380.503

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants or loans from the Florida Communities

Trust.

Fla. Stat. § 413.615

Under the Florida Endowment for Vocational Rehabilitation Act, a corporation, trust,

association, or foundation organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, or

scientific purposes is eligible to receive grants from the endowment fund.

Fla. Stat. § 420.530

The Florida Housing Finance Corporation must contract with an IRC § 501(c)(3)

corporation, representing a mix of stakeholders concerned with housing conditions faced by

migrant and seasonal farmworkers, in order to establish the State Farmworker Housing Pilot

Loan Program. 

Fla. Stat. § 420.631

Under the Urban Homesteading Act, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may be appointed by a

local government to administer the urban homesteading program for single-family housing.

Fla. Stat. § 445.004

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations are eligible for grants under the First Jobs/First

Wages Program to run after-school programs.
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Fla. Stat. § 446.609

Under the Jobs for Florida's Graduates Act, the Florida Endowment Foundation may make

grants to organizations that are organized and operated exclusively for charitable,

educational, or scientific purposes.

Fla. Stat. § 581.185

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants to support programs designed to protect

and monitor endangered or threatened native flora. 

Fla. Stat. § 1004.51

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations may receive assistance under the Community and

Faith-based Organizations Initiative or the Community Library Technology Access

Partnership Program.

Fla. Stat. § 1004.52

Under the Community Computer Access Grant Program, IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4)

organizations are eligible for grants to purchase computers to assist youths living in

distressed areas.

Massachusetts

Exempt From a Provision of Law

ALM GL ch. 21E, § 5

An owner of sites or vessels from which there is a release or threat of release of oil or

hazardous material is liable for various costs and damages. A charitable corporation that

holds a conservation restriction, agricultural preservation restriction, watershed preservation

restriction, or affordable housing restriction is not an “owner” if certain qualifications are

met.

ALM GL ch. 31, § 48

Superintendents and assistant superintendentsof charitable institutions are exempt from civil

service rules unless federal standards for a merit system of personnel administration apply.

ALM GL ch. 40, § 57

A city or town may revoke various business licenses or permits if the business has not paid

its taxes, fees, etc. However, this rule does not apply to licences for sales of articles for

charitable purposes.

ALM Spec L ch. S57, § 3

Under the chapter on rent and eviction control in certain cities and towns, the term

“controlled rental units” does not include units in a hospital, convent, monastery, asylum,

public institution, or college or school dormitory that is operated exclusively for charitable

or educational purposes or to units in a nonprofit nursing home or charitable home for the

aged.

ALM GL ch. 55, § 11

The rules prohibiting a person or political committee from soliciting candidates and

officeholders from accepting gifts do not apply to the soliciting or making of gifts for

charitable or religious purposes.
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ALM GL ch. 90, § 1A

Ambulances owned and operated by hospitals or other institutions supported by public or

private donations for charitable purposes are exempt from registration requirements.

ALM GL ch. 93, § 14G

Under the Unfair Sales laws, various provisions do not apply to the advertising or offering

to sell merchandise that is advertised or offered for sale for charitable purposes or to relief

agencies.

ALM GL ch. 93, § 68A

For purposes of regulating credit services organizations, the term “credit service

organization” does not include IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

ALM GL ch. 93, § 73

No physician or otolaryngologist may sell hearing aids to a person to whom the physician or

otolaryngologist has provided services pursuant to section 72, or have a membership,

employment, co-ownership, or proprietary interest in or with a business that sells hearing

aids to such person. This rule does not apply to a nonprofit charitable organization, clinic,

hospital or health care facility.

ALM GL ch. 94A, § 4

The restrictions on buying milk do not apply to a school, hospital, infirmary or similar

charitable institution that is wholly supported by federal or state funds.

ALM GL ch. 94A, § 14

The restrictions on distributing and selling milk do not apply to sales to schools, colleges,

universities, libraries, churches, hospitals, and charitable institutions.

ALM GL ch. 100, § 11

The provisions regulating auctioneers do not apply to auctions held or conducted by a

member of a charitable, educational, religious, or other nonprofit organization.

ALM GL ch. 101, § 15

The provisions regulating hawkers and peddlers do not apply to persons selling articles for

charitable purposes.

ALM GL ch. 101, § 16

The sale by hawkers or pedlers of jewelry, furs, wines or spirituous liquors, small artificial

flowers or miniature flags is prohibited. However, this rule does not apply to the sale of lowvalue costume jewelry made by a nonprofit or charitable organization.

ALM GL ch. 110A, § 402

Securities exempted from various registration and filing requirements include securities

issued by an issuer organized and operated not for private profit but exclusively for religious,

educational, benevolent, charitable, fraternal, social, athletic, or reformatory purposes, or as

a chamber of commerce or trade or professional association.

ALM GL ch. 121A, § 9

The provisions addressing limitations on dividends in urban redevelopment corporations do

not apply to charitable corporations so long as all surplus earnings are employed in urban

redevelopment projects.
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ALM GL ch. 140, § 46A

For the purposes of regulating employment agencies, the term “employment agency” does

not include any agency operated by a religious or charitable organization or an accredited

educational institution, so long as no part of its earnings inures to the benefit of a private

shareholder or individual.

ALM GL ch. 140, § 198

The rules restricting the attendance of individuals under the age of 15 from establishments

where dances occur do not apply to a dance given by a charitable or religious society or a

public or private school.

ALM GL ch. 140, § 21E

In general, organizations are required to have a license to dispense food and beverages to its

stockholders or members and their guests. This requirement does not apply to literary,

benevolent, charitable, scientific, and religious corporations.

ALM GL ch. 140, § 54

Charitable organizations do not have to pay the license fee imposed by a city or town on

collectors and dealers of junk, old metals, or second hand articles.

ALM GL ch. 140, §§ 181 and 182

The provisions requiring a license for theatrical exhibitions, public shows, public

amusements and exhibitions do not apply to exhibitions by religious societies in their usual

places of worship that are for a religious or charitable purpose.

ALM GL ch. 143, § 3R

The provision regulating locks in apartment buildings does not apply to dormitories of

charitable, educational, and philanthropic institutions.

ALM GL ch. 147, § 23

The provision requiring licenses for persons engaged in a private detective business or the

business of a watch, guard or patrol agency does not apply to a charitable, philanthropic or

law enforcement agency, so long as the agency is promoted and maintained for the public

good and not for private profit.

ALM GL ch. 147, § 39

In general, no contestant younger than 18 or older than 35 may engage in boxing or sparring

matches or exhibitions, with exceptions for boxers who are or have been world boxing

champions. The prohibition does not apply to matches or exhibitions sponsored and

conducted by recognized boys’ clubs, youth organizations, schools or colleges, municipal or

state park or recreational departments, or incorporated private nonprofit boxing teams;

however, any boxer over age 35 may only participate in matches or exhibitions for fundraising for charitable organizations.

ALM GL ch. 149, § 1

Under the chapter on labor and industries, the term “employee” does not include, for

purposes of the provisions prohibiting wage discrimination based on sex, employees of a

social club or a fraternal, charitable, educational, religious, scientific or literary association.
CRS-32

ALM GL ch. 151, § 1A

The section dealing with overtime pay does not apply to a long list of services, including

those where employees are employed in a hospital, sanatorium, convalescent or nursing

home, infirmary, rest home or charitable home for the aged; in a nonprofit school or college;

or in a summer camp operated by a nonprofit charitable corporation.

ALM GL ch. 151, § 2

Under the minimum fair wages provisions, the term “occupation” does not include work by

persons being rehabilitated or trained under rehabilitation or training programs in charitable,

educational or religious institutions, or work by members of religious orders.

ALM GL ch. 151D, § 7

The chapter regulating health, welfare and retirement funds does not apply to retirement

plans established by educational, charitable, or religious organizations.

ALM GL ch. 159, § 15

In general, no common carrier can provide free intrastate travel, but this does not apply to

travel for charitable purposes.

ALM GL ch. 167A, § 1

For the provisions regulating bank holding companies, the term “company” does not include

a nonprofit corporation or association that is organized and operated exclusively for

religious, charitable or educational purposes, so long as no substantial part of its activities

is carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation.

ALM GL ch. 175, § 118

For the provisions regulating life insurance, corporations incorporated for educational,

charitable, benevolent, or religious purpose are not “life insurance companies.”

ALM GL ch. 180, § 4A

No person, other than an attorney or a nonprofit charitable corporation, may render credit

counseling services that consist of creating a plan whereby an individual turns over an agreed

amount of income to a nonprofit credit counseling corporation, which then distributes it to

creditors in accordance with the plan.

ALM GL ch. 255E, § 2

IRC §§ 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) organizations with the purpose of assisting low and moderate

income households in the purchase or rehabilitation of family residences are exempt from

the prohibition against acting as a mortgage broker or mortgage lender for residential

property without being licensed. Also exempt is any charitable organization originally

created by a last will and testament before January 1, 1950, that makes no more than 12

mortgage loans during a year.

Special Rules

ALM GL ch. 6, § 168A; ALM GL ch. 276, § 100

Reports on probation and parole cases are not public records, but they are accessible to

educational and charitable corporations as determined by the appropriate authority.
CRS-33

ALM GL ch. 10, § 27

No person, other than a fraternal, veterans’ or charitable organization, may be licensed as an

agent to sell lottery tickets or shares if the person engages in business exclusively as a lottery

sales agent. Under ALM GL ch. 10, § 27A, a licensee under this section is eligible for a

license to conduct the game of Keno.

ALM GL ch. 10, § 38

Fraternal, charitable, religious, and veterans’ organizations are eligible for a license to

conduct the game of beano. Under ALM GL ch. 10, § 37, an organization that is licensed

to conduct the game of beano is eligible for a license to sell lottery tickets.

ALM GL ch. 40, § 51

The general rule is that no town or officer may disclose the names of persons who receive

veterans benefits except to other government officials. However, a duly incorporated

charitable corporation must be informed, upon its request, as to whether or not a designated

person has received such benefits. 

ALM GL ch. 44B, § 12

A real property interest that is purchased with monies from the Community Preservation

Fund is bound by a permanent deed restriction limiting the use of the interest to the purpose

for which it was acquired. The deed restriction runs with the land and is enforceable by the

city or town or the commonwealth, but may also run to the benefit of a nonprofit charitable

corporation or foundation selected by the city or town with the right to enforce the restriction.

ALM GL ch. 75, § 36B; ALM GL ch. 111, § 12

A charitable corporation may request the state or the University of Massachusetts medical

school to analyze drugs, poisons, chemicals, etc., so long as the analysis is to be used for law

enforcement purposes.

ALM GL ch. 90, § 33

Certain vehicles sponsored or used by charitable organizations (e.g., a bloodmobile) may be

registered without having to pay a fee.

ALM GL ch. 90, § 71

Special purpose motor vehicles and trailers that are owned by charitable corporations and

assigned to emergency disaster services may receive free license plates and be equipped with

sirens, etc.

ALM GL ch. 101, § 12A

A town or city may grant charitable organizations a special license to conduct temporary or

transient business, in which case the organization is not subject to state licensing

requirements. 

ALM GL ch. 101, § 33

A town or city may grant charitable organizations a special temporary license to sell flags,

badges, medals, buttons, flowers, souvenirs, and similar small articles.

ALM GL ch. 114, § 43A

Cemeteries may only be owned or operated by political subdivisions, churches, religious or

charitable societies, and cemetery associations.
CRS-34

ALM GL ch. 118E, § 14

Nursing homes are eligible to enter into negotiated rate contracts that recognize the

acquisition cost, or the portion which exceeds the allowable basis, as the allowable basis of

fixed assets where there has been a change of ownership; but, among other requirements, the

new owner must be an IRC § 501(c)(3) hospital or organization affiliated with a nonprofit

hospital.

ALM GL ch. 140, § 137A

Charitable organizations with the purpose of protecting animals must be given a free kennel

license by the town clerk.

ALM GL ch. 140, § 151

Rather than have a city position of dog officer, a city may enter into a contract with a

domestic charitable corporation with the purpose of protecting animals to perform the duties

required of dog officers.

ALM GL ch. 175, § 123A

A charitable institution described in IRC § 501(c)(3), (c)(6), (c)(8), or (c)(9) is deemed to

have an insurable interest in the life of any donor.

ALM GL ch. 180, § 6C

In general, a director, officer or incorporator of a charitable corporation is not liable for the

performance of his or her duties if he or she acts in good faith, in a manner he or she

reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation, and with the level of care

of an ordinarily prudent person in a similar position.

ALM GL ch. 184, § 23

Restrictions that affect the title or use of real property and are unlimited as to time are limited

to 30 years after the date of deed or probate of the will creating them, except in cases of gifts

or devises for public, charitable, or religious purposes.

ALM GL ch. 184, § 23b

Any condition, restriction or prohibition that limits the use of real property on the basis of

race, color, religion, national origin or sex is void. This rule does not apply to a limitation

on the basis of religion on the use of real property held by a religious organization or by an

organization operated for charitable or educational purposes that is operated, supervised or

controlled by or in connection with a religious organization.

ALM GL ch. 184, § 30

No restriction on property shall be enforced unless it is determined that the restriction is an

actual and substantial benefit to a person claiming the right of enforcement. There is a

presumption against that finding, but the presumption does not apply in certain cases of gifts

or devises for public, charitable, or religious purposes.

ALM GL ch. 184, § 32

If certain qualifications are met, no conservation restriction, agricultural preservation

restriction,watershed preservation restriction, affordable housing restriction, or preservation

restriction held by a charitable corporation is unenforceable on account of (1) lack of privity

of estate or contract or lack of benefit to particular land; (2) the benefit being assignable or

being assigned to a governmental body or charitable corporation or trust with like purposes;
CRS-35

or (3) the governmental body or the charitable corporation or trust having received the right

to enforce the restriction by assignment.

ALM GL ch. 184A, § 4

The statutory Rule Against Perpetuities does not apply to a nonvested property interest held

by a charity or government if the nonvested property interest is preceded by an interest held

by another charity or government. 

ALM GL ch. 231, § 85K

For nonprofit organizations, if a tort was committed in the course of an activity carried on

to accomplish its charitable purposes, liability is limited to $20,000, exclusive of interest and

costs. The limitation does not apply if the activities were primarily commercial.

Additionally, a person who serves as a director, officer or trustee of an educational institution

that is an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization and who is not compensated for such services is not

liable solely by reason of such services for any act or omission resulting in damage or injury

to another, so long as he or she was acting in good faith and within the scope of official

functions and duties. The limitation does not apply if the damage or injury was caused by

willful or wanton misconduct or if the cause of action arises out of the person's operation of

a motor vehicle.

ALM GL ch. 231, § 85V

In general, nonprofit associations that conduct sports programs (and their officers, directors,

trustee, and members serving without compensation, and their volunteers) are not liable for

an action in tort resulting from the program. The immunity does not apply to intentional or

grossly negligent acts.

ALM GL ch. 231, § 85W

A person who serves without compensation as an officer, director, or trustee of an IRC §

501(c)(3) organization is generally not liable for civil damages as a result of acts or

omissions relating solely to the performance of his or her duties. This limitation does not

apply to acts or omissions that were intentional or grossly negligent, were committed in the

course of activities primarily commercial in nature, or arose out of the person's operation of

a motor vehicle.

ALM GL ch. 266, § 71A

No person, society, association or corporation may knowingly assume, adopt or use the name

of a benevolent, humane, fraternal, charitable or labor organization, or a name so nearly

resembling that name as to be a colorable imitation thereof or calculated to deceive persons.

ALM GL ch. 270, § 22

Under the rules limiting smoking in public places, smoking is allowed on the premises of a

membership association, which is a nonprofit entity that has been established and operates

for a charitable, philanthropic, civic, social, benevolent, educational, religious, athletic, or

recreational purpose.

ALM GL ch. 271, § 7A

Only the following organizations may promote, operate, or conduct a raffle or bazaar:

charitable, religious, educational and veterans’ organizations, fraternal or fraternal benefit

societies, civic or service clubs, and nonprofit clubs or organizations organized and operated

exclusively for pleasure, recreation and other nonprofit purposes. 
CRS-36

Eligible to Receive Property or Non-Grant Money

ALM GL ch. 30B, § 15

A governmental body may, unless otherwise prohibited by law, dispose of tangible property

that is no longer useful but has resale or salvage value to an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization

at less than fair market value.

ALM GL ch. 33, § 122

Armories or air installations may be used temporarily for meeting or activities by various

types of charitable organizations.

ALM Spec L ch. S67, § 8

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority may donate lost or abandoned property worth

less than $150 to charitable organizations.

ALM Spec L ch. S71, § 14A

The Massachusetts Parking Authority may donate lost or abandoned property worth less than

$3 to charitable organizations.

ALM Spec L ch. 73, § 23

The Massachusetts Port Authority may donate lost or abandoned property worth less than $3

to charitable organizations.

ALM GL ch. 81A, § 20

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority may donate lost or abandoned property worth less

than $3 to charitable organizations.

ALM GL ch. 90, § 8D

The registrar of motor vehicles may, on behalf of a charitable institution, accept gifts,

contributions and bequests of funds for the purpose of furthering the promotion of

anatomical sciences.

ALM GL ch. 154, § 8; ALM GL ch. 180, § 17B

Voluntary charitable contributions may be withheld from employees’ salaries.

ALM GL ch. 255, § 31D

For cleaners, tailors, etc., if an account is past due for a certain period of time, the person

may donate the items to a charitable corporation. 

Eligible to Participate in a Program (i.e., Receive Assistance)

ALM GL ch. 23G, § 42

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to apply for grants and loans from the Regional

Tourism Facilities Fund for the construction, expansion, renovation or repair of cultural,

entertainment, regional tourism, and other commercial facilities.

ALM GL ch. 69, § 36

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to seek grants to promote the use of educational

services of museums and other cultural organizations by schools and community

organizations.
CRS-37

ALM GL ch. 121A, § 3

Charitable corporations are eligible to receive assistance for the purpose of rehabilitating

housing under the Urban Redevelopment Corporation Program.

ALM GL ch. 132A, § 111/2

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants to acquire interests in lands suitable for

purposes of conservation or recreation. 

ALM GL ch. 211D, § 6

The committee for public counsel services must enter into contractual agreements with bar

associations or charitable organizations for the purpose of providing counsel to indigent

defendants.

New York

Exempt From a Provision of Law

NY Agriculture and Markets Law § 61

Consumers must be given notice of the use of oleomargarine in public eating places, but the

term “public eating place” does not include religious, charitable, or private camps.

NY Agriculture and Markets Law § 96-c

The provisions addressing the licensing of slaughterhouses generally do not apply to any

person who donates and any charitable or nonprofit organization that possesses, prepares or

serves game or wild game pursuant to law.

NY Agriculture and Markets Law § 217

For purposes of the licensing requirements for food salvagers, the term “food salvager” does

not include a person who donates farm salvage to a charitable nonprofit organization.

NY Agriculture and Markets Law § 244 

Under the Licensing of Farm Products Dealers provisions, the licensing, bonding and stated

grape price provisions do not apply to charitable nonprofit organizations that receive donated

farm salvage for distribution purposes.

NY Alcoholic Beverage Control Law § 64-b

The provision restricting the unlicenced sale of liquor at bottle clubs does not apply to

nonprofit religious, charitable, and fraternal organizations.

NY Arts and Cultural Affairs Law §§ 23.08 and 23.09

The provision requiring ticket sellers who make advance ticket sales to deposit money in a

timely manner or post a letter of credit with the state does not apply to a ticket distributor

who is a nonprofit educational, charitable, or tax-exempt organization that sells tickets to an

event produced or presented by the organization.

NY Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 35.05

The provisions regulating the use of child models do not apply to the employment or use of

a child model by a charitable organization.
CRS-38

NY Banking Law § 141

An IRC § 501(c)(3) organization is not a “company” for purposes of regulating bank holding

companies.

NY Banking Law § 579

Only nonprofit corporations may engage in the business of budget planning without first

obtaining a license.

NY General Business Law § 171 

For purposes of regulating employment agencies, exempt from the definition of

“employment agency” are organizations operated by or under the exclusive control of a

bonafide nonprofit educational, religious, charitable, or eleemosynary institution. 

NY General Business Law § 399-pp

Nonprofit corporations and charitable organizations are exempt from the registration and

bonding requirements in the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act.

NY General Municipal Law § 190-a

While licenses are generally required to conduct raffles, some organizations may conduct

raffles without one. These include religious, charitable, educational, fraternal and service

organizations, and organizations of veterans or volunteer firemen.

NY Insurance Law § 1101

A transaction effected by mail from outside the state by an unauthorized foreign insurer who

is licensed to transact the business of insurance in its domicile is not “doing an insurance

business” in New York if it is a transaction by a nonprofit life insurance company operated

exclusively for the purpose of aiding a charitable, religious, educational or scientific

institution by issuing insurance or annuity contracts directly from its home office. The

company cannot have not agents or representatives in New York.

NY Insurance Law § 1108

Charitable annuity societies may be exempted from insurance licensing and other

requirements.

NY Insurance Law § 3221(e)

The provision regulating group policies that provide hospital or surgical expense insurance

for other than specific diseases or accidents does not apply to a group policy issued to a

policyholder whose principal activities are located outside the state by a nonprofit life

insurance company operated exclusively for the purpose of aiding charitable, religious,

missionary, education, and philanthropic institutions by issuing insurance contracts only to

or for the benefit of the institutions.

NY Labor Law § 133

The provisions prohibiting the employment of minors do not apply to a minor who is

employed in the occupation in which he or she has completed a work training program of a

nonprofit organization.

NY Labor Law §§ 190 and 191

The general rule is that manual workers must be paid weekly. However, religious, charitable,

and educational corporations may pay employees according to the terms of employment so

long as it is not less frequently than semi-monthly.
CRS-39

NY Labor Law § 651

For purposes of the Minimum Wage Act, the term “employee” does not include services

performed as a volunteer, learner or apprentice by an organization organized and operated

exclusively for religious, charitable or educational purposes, so long as no part of its net

earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

NY Labor Law § 701

Under the New York State Labor Relations Act, the term “employee” does not include (1)

an individual who participates in and receives rehabilitative or therapeutic services in a

charitable nonprofit rehabilitation facility or sheltered workshop or (2) an individual

employed in a charitable nonprofit rehabilitation facility or sheltered workshop who has

received rehabilitative or therapeutic services and whose capacity to perform the work is

substantially impaired by physical or mental deficiency or injury.

NY Labor Law § 870-m

The permit requirements for an amusement device, viewing stand or tent operated in a

carnival, fair or amusement park do not apply to the use of a viewing stand or tent owned,

leased or operated by a religious, charitable, educational, fraternal, service, veteran or

volunteer firemen organization.

NY Legislative Law § 1-c

Under the Lobbying Act, the term “gift” means anything of value given to a public official,

but does not include complimentary attendance, including food and beverage, at charitable

events.

NY Public Health Law § 225

A charitable organization is not in violation of any law, including the sanitary code, for the

possession, preparation, distribution or service of game or wild game that was donated

pursuant to section 11-0917 of the environmental conservation law. 

NY Public Health Law §§ 1393 and 1406

Under provisions regulating camps for children, there are exemptions from the fees for

camps operated for charitable, philanthropic, or religious purposes.

NY Public Health Law § 1399-n

Under the laws restricting smoking in public places, smoking is allowed in membership

associations, which are nonprofit entities created or organized for a charitable, philanthropic,

educational, political, social or other similar purpose.

NY State Finance Law § 162

Two preferred sources that are exempt from the state competitive procurement provisions

are commodities and services produced by a qualified charitable nonprofit agency for the

blind and an agency for severely disabled persons.

Special Rules 

NY Alcoholic Beverage Control Law §§ 33.15 and 99-a.

An organization eligible under IRC § 170 may get a special 24-hour permit to sell alcoholic

beverages.
CRS-40

NY Alcoholic Beverage Control Law § 92

Special permits for the purchase of alcohol can be issued to an officer of a hospital, museum,

laboratory, art, charitable, educational, or similar public institution. 

NY Alcoholic Beverage Control Law § 98

Charitable and nonprofit organizations have an easier burden to get special a 24-hour

caterer's permit.

NY Civil Practice Law and Rules § 8602

Certain prevailing parties in suits against the state are able to be awarded costs and fees.

Eligible parties include any partnership, corporation, association, real estate developer, or

organization with less than 100 employees, but any IRC § 501(c)(3) organization is eligible,

regardless of the number of employees.

NY Education Law § 667

Students enrolled in many types of schools are eligible for tuition assistance program awards,

including those enrolled in IRC § 501(c)(3) business schools.

NY Education Law § 695-e

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may open family tuition accounts to fund scholarships for

persons whose identity will be determined upon disbursement.

NY Environmental Conservation Law §§ 49-0303 and 49-0305

IRC § 501(c)(3) corporations that are organized for the conservation or preservation of real

property may hold conservation easements.

NY Executive Law § 296

A religious or denominational organization, or an organization operated for charitable or

educational purposes that is operated by or in connection with a religious organization, may

limit employment or sales or rental of housing accommodations to persons of the same

religion or denomination.

NY Family Court Act §§ 422, 428, 522, 671, and 827

There are several family law statutes that allow an incorporated charitable or philanthropic

society with a legitimate interest in a petitioner to file to open a proceeding, such as a support

proceeding or paternity proceeding, or to receive from the court a certificate stating that a

warrant for a respondent has been issued.

NY Executive Law § 432; General Municipal Law § 476

Only certain organizations are allowed to conduct bingo games. These include religious,

charitable, educational, fraternal, civic and service organizations.

NY General Municipal Law § 186

Organizations authorized to conduct games of chance include religious, charitable,

educational, fraternal, and service organizations and organizations of veterans or volunteer

firemen.

NY Insurance Law § 1110

The Superintendent of Insurance may issue a special permit to make annuity agreements with

donors to a nonprofit charitable, religious, missionary, educational, or philanthropic
CRS-41

organization. The permit authorizes the organization to receive gifts of cash and other

property conditioned upon its agreement to pay an annuity to the donor or his or her nominee.

NY Insurance Law § 3205

Charitable, educational and religious corporationsmayprocure a life insurance contract upon

a person and may designate itself, or cause to have itself designated, as the beneficiary of the

contract.

NY Insurance Law § 3435

For IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations, group coverage for homogeneous groups formed for

purposes other than obtaining insurance may be approved for the kinds of insurance

authorized by Insurance Law § 1113, except those authorized in paragraphs one, two, three,

sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three and twenty-five of such

subsection, so long as the policies are available to all eligible members of the group.

NY Judiciary Law § 489

No person or co-partnership engaged in the business of collection and adjustment of claims

and no corporation or association may solicit, buy, or take an assignment of a bond,

promissory note, bill of exchange, book debt, or any claim or demand with the intent of

bringing an action or proceeding thereon. This rule does not affect an assignment taken by

a corporation organized for religious, benevolent, or charitable purposes.

NY N-PCL § 720-a

In general, no person serving without compensation as a director, officer or trustee of an IRC

§ 501(c)(3) organization is liable to any person other than that entity solely because of his

or her conduct in that office, unless the person's conduct was intentional or grossly negligent.

NY Public Service Law § 92

While no telegraph or telephone corporation may generally give free or reduced service for

the transmission of messages between points within the state, there are exceptions, including

one for persons or corporations exclusively engaged in charitable and eleemosynary work.

NY Public Service Law § 225

The general rule is that cable television rates that are discriminatory or preferential as

between similarly-situated subscribers are void. However, reduced rates or free service to

educational and charitable institutions are not considered unduly discriminatory or

preferential.

NY State Finance Law § 179-q

Under the provisions addressing prompt contracting and interest payments for nonprofit

organizations, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are the primary group of “nonprofit

organizations.”

NY Transportation Law § 103

Common carriers are generally prohibited from giving free tickets for intrastate travel. This

prohibition does not apply to, among others, persons exclusively engaged in charitable and

eleemosynary work.
CRS-42

Eligible to Receive Property or Non-Grant Money

NY Education Law § 414

Schoolhouses and grounds may be used for meetings, entertainments and occasions where

admission fees are charged if the proceeds are for educational or charitable purposes.

NY General Business Law § 399-bb

Retail dry cleaning institutions may donate abandoned items to a bona fide charitable

organization, church, or other nonprofit organization. 

NY Judiciary Law § 4261

Whenever the purpose for which an unincorporated association organized for a special or

local purpose has been fully carried out, the supreme court may order that the funds or

property be given to a charitable, religious, benevolent, or educational organization.

NY Military Law § 18

Obsolete state property may be donated to educational, patriotic, and charitable

organizations.

NY State Finance Law § 201; Retirement and Social Security Law § 110-d; General

Municipal Law § 93-b

Voluntary contributions to federated community campaigns may be deducted from state

employees’ wages and retired employees’ retirement allowances.

Eligible to Participate in a Program (i.e., Receive Assistance)

NY Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 3.07

The State Council on the Arts may provide financial assistance to nonprofit cultural

organizations for the rehabilitation of existing buildings.

NY Arts and Cultural Affairs Law § 20.03

A nonprofit cultural organization is eligible for financing for projects involving constructing

and rehabilitating facilities under the New York State Cultural Resources Act. The

organization must show one of the following proofs of nonprofit status: IRC § 501(c)(3)

status, filing with the state board of regents pursuant to section two hundred sixteen of the

education law, or filing with the secretary of state to register as a charitable organization.

NY Education Law § 220

In the provisions relating to the University of the State of New York, when the board of

regents revokes the charter of or dissolves an educational corporation, any money left after

the payment of debts and the expenses of liquidation may be used for educational, religious,

benevolent, and charitable purposes.

NY Environmental Conservation Law § 27-1316

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that may be affected by an inactive hazardous waste disposal

site remedial program are eligible for grants to do such things as obtain technical assistance

about the nature of the hazard, develop a remedial program, and advise affected residents.
CRS-43

NY Environmental Conservation Law § 27-1417

Under the Brownfield Cleanup Program, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations with members

affected by the site are eligible for grants to do such things as obtain technical assistance

about the hazard, develop remedial programs, and advise affected residents.

NY Environmental Conservation Law § 52-0101 et seq.

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for assistance for projects including hazardous

waste site remediation and historic preservation under the provisions implementing the

Environmental Quality Bond Act of 1986.

NY Environmental Conservation Law § 56-0501 et seq.

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants for a variety of environmental projects

under the provisions implementing the Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act of 1996. 

NY General Municipal Law §§ 854, 858, 859-b, and 862-a

IRC § 501(c)(3) continuing care retirement communities are eligible for financial assistance.

NY General Municipal Law § 970-r

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations whose mission is promoting the reuse of Brownfield sites are

eligible for grants.

NY Judiciary Law § 849-a

Nonprofit organizations that administer community dispute resolution centers are eligible for

grants under the Community Dispute Resolution Centers Program.

NY Private Housing Finance Law § 572

Nonprofit and charitable corporations with the purpose of improving housing for persons of

low income are eligible to utilize development funds under the Housing Development Fund

Companies Program.

NY Private Housing Finance Law § 921

Nonprofit and charitable organizations are eligible for grants under the Urban Initiatives

Program.

NY Private Housing Finance Law § 1101

Nonprofit and charitable organizations with the purpose of improving housing for persons

of low income are eligible for grants under the Low Income Housing Trust Fund Program.

NY Private Housing Finance Law § 1106-a

Nonprofit and charitable organizations with the purpose of improving housing for persons

of low income are eligible for grants under the Low Income Turnkey/Enhanced Housing

Trust Fund Program.

NY Private Housing Finance Law § 1111

Nonprofit and charitable organizations with the purpose of improving housing for persons

of low income are eligible for grants under the Affordable Home Ownership Development

Program.

NY Private Housing Finance Law § 1121

Nonprofit and charitable organizations with the purpose of improving housing are eligible

for grants under the Manufactured Home Cooperative Fund Program.
CRS-44

NY Public Health Law § 4604-a

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for industrial development agency financing in

connection with continuing care retirement communities.

NY Social Services Law § § 42 and 43

Nonprofit and charitable organizations are eligible for financial assistance under the

Homeless Housing and Assistance Program.

NY Social Services Law § 43

The state may enter into homeless housing and assistance contracts with municipalities, who

may then enter into contracts with nonprofit corporations and charitable organizations to

undertake the establishment of homeless housing projects.

NY Social Services Law § 45-a

Nonprofit and charitable organizations are eligible for grants under the Single Room

Occupancy Support Services Program.

NY Social Services Law § 131-v

To the extent consistent with federal law, a social services official may contract with a

nonprofit corporation or charitable organization to provide temporary emergency shelter for

eligible homeless households in dwelling units owned or leased, and operated by the

corporation or organization.

NY Social Services Law § 482-b

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the Statewide Settlement House

Program.

Pennsylvania

Exempt From a Provision of Law

3 P.S. § 2372

Charitable and religious institutions are exempt from the requirement to pay the licensing fee

that accompanies an application to operate a garbage feeding business or plant.

3 P.S. § 6510

Food establishments owned by IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are exempt from most of the

provisions dealing with food employee certification. Also exempt are food establishments

managed on a not-for-profit basis by a religious, charitable, fraternal, veterans, civic, or

agricultural association.

4 P.S. § 213

The provisions regulating the resale of tickets do not apply to fund-raising activities

performed by or on behalf of IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

10 P.S. §§ 362 and 363

Laws regulating insurance do not apply to the issuance of a qualified charitable gift annuity

by a charity described in IRC § 170(c).
CRS-45

18 P.S. § 5903

The provisions addressing the display of obscene and other sexual materials and

performances do not apply to a historical society or museum accorded charitable status by

the federal government or to libraries.

18 P.S. §§ 7328 and 7329

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are exempt from certain prohibitions on activities at bottle

clubs.

22 P.S. § 25

The Private Detective Act does not apply to any incorporated charitable or philanthropic

society or association that is organized and maintained for the public good and not for private

profit.

35 P.S. § 5203

Manufacturers of stuffed toys manufactured in the state or intended for sale or use in the state

must register and pay a fee. Charitable organizations may be exempted from having to pay

the fee.

43 P.S. § 333.105

Exempt from the Minimum Wage Act are activities of an educational, charitable, religious

or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not in fact exist

or where the services are rendered gratuitously.

43 P.S. § 536

Under the provisions regulating employment agencies, charitable institutions making no

charge for employment services are not "private employment agents."

43 P.S. § 954

Under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, the term “employer” generally does not

include religious, fraternal, charitable or sectarian organizations, except those supported by

governmental appropriations. However, with respect to discriminatory practices based on

race, color, age, sex, national origin or non-job related handicap or disability, the term

“employer” does include religious, fraternal, charitable and sectarian organizations

employing at least four people in the state.

43 P.S. § 1301.103

Under the provisions regulating seasonal farm labor, the term “farm labor contractor” does

not include any nonprofit charitable organization or educational institution.

53 P.S. § 37621

The provisions allowing third-class cities to regulate transient retail merchants do not apply

to the sale of donated goods, wares, and merchandise if the proceeds are to be used for

charitable purposes.

53 P.S. § 47901

Boroughs may not charge a fee for transient retail licenses for the sale of donated goods,

wares, and merchandise if the proceeds are to be used for charitable purposes.
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53 P.S. § 57901

First-class townships may regulate transient retail businesses, except the sale of donated

goods, wares, and merchandise if the proceeds are to be used for charitable purposes.

53 P.S. § 66532

Second-class townships may license and regulate transient merchants conducting business

within the township, except the sale of donated goods, wares, or merchandise if the proceeds

are to be used for charitable purposes.

53 P.S. § 66701

A township may procure land by purchase, gift, devise, or the exercise of eminent domain

and erect or use buildings on it for township purposes. However, no land or property used

for a educational or charitable institution, seminary or place of public worship may be taken.

62 P.S. § 520

State contractswith charitable agencies for supplies manufactured by and services performed

by persons with disabilities are exempt from the competitive bidding requirements.

63 P.S. § 391.3

For purposes of regulating the wholesale distribution of prescription drugs, the term

“wholesale distribution” does not include, to the extent otherwise permitted by law, the sale,

purchase or trade of a drug or an offer to sell, purchase or trade a drug by an IRC § 501(c)(3)

organization to its nonprofit affiliate.

63 P.S. § 734.3

Under the provisions regulating auctions and auctioneers, the requirement to obtain a license

does not apply to auctions conducted by or on behalf of a charitable organization so long as

the person conducting the sale does not receive compensation.

63 P.S. § 818.12

It is unlawful for a vehicle manufacturer, factory branch, or distributor to sell or exchange

with a second or final stage manufacturer, retail consumer, or end user unless the transaction

is through a licensed new vehicle dealer. This rule does not apply to sales to charitable

organizations.

63 P.S. § 818.32

Any licensed vehicle dealer may participate in public vehicle shows, off-premise sales, and

exhibitions, so long as the event is within the dealer's relevant market area. This rule does

not apply to vehicle shows held as part of an event operated to benefit an IRC § 501(c)(3)

organization.

69 P.S. § 2612

Under the Unused Property Market Act, an unused property market does not include an event

that is organized for the exclusive benefit of religious, education, and charitable

organizations.

70 P.S. § 1-202

Exempt from the securities registration requirements are securities of organizations that are

organized for educational, benevolent, fraternal, religious, charitable, social, athletic or

reformatory purposes and not for pecuniary profit, if no part of its net earnings inures to the

benefit of a private shareholder or individual. This exemption does not apply if the promoter
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intends to make a profit from any business or activity associated with the organization or

operation of the organization.

70 P.S. § 1-203

Exempt from the securities registration requirements are transactions involving an offer or

sale of an evidence of indebtedness of an issuer organized exclusively for educational,

benevolent, fraternal, religious, charitable, social, athletic, or reformatory purposes and not

for pecuniary profit, if no part of its net earnings inures to the benefit of any private

shareholder or individual.

73 P.S. § 216

The provisions regulating unfair sales do not apply to retail or wholesale sales where

merchandise is sold for charitable purposes or to relief agencies.

73 P.S. § 2011

Charitable and non-profit organizations are exempt from the license requirement for

door-to-door sales to solicit magazine subscriptions.

73 P.S. §§ 2242 and 2245

Under the Telemarketer Registration Act, the definition of "telemarketer" does not include

educationalinstitutions, hospitals, public library organizations,IRCtax-exemptsenior citizen

centers and nursing homes, parent/teacher organizations, and any charitable organization that

receives contributions of no more than $25,000 annually. The exception does not apply if

the organization uses professional fundraisers. The term “telephone solicitation call” does

not include a call made on behalf of an IRC § 501(c)(3), (5), or (8) organization or a veteran's

organization. Additionally, while it is generally a violation of law to not reduce any sale of

goods or services made during a telemarketing call to a written contract, this rule does not

apply to sales or solicitations by or on behalf of IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

73 P.S. § 2182

Under the provisions regulating credit services organizations, the term “credit services

organization” does not include IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations.

Special Rules

9 P.S. § 202

Caretaker organizations generally owe no duty of care to keep a historic burial place safe for

entry or use by others or to give warning of a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity

on the premises. A caretaker organization is an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization that owns or

assumes responsibility for the restoration and maintenance of a historic burial place.

10 P.S. §§ 303 and 304

Charitable organizations are eligible to apply for a license to conduct bingo games.

10 P.S. §§ 313 and 314

Charitable organizations are eligible to apply for a license to conduct games of chance.

10 P.S. §§ 353, 354 and 355

Any bona fide charitable or religious organization that receives, in good faith, donated food

for ultimate distribution to needy individuals is not subject to liability arising from the food’s

condition, so long as the organization reasonably inspects the food at the time of donation
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and distribution and, in the case of wildlife, reasonably processes, prepares and distributes

the food.

22 P.S. § 501

A nonprofit corporation that maintains a cemetery or building open to the public or is

organized for the prevention of cruelty to children, aged persons, or animals may apply to the

court of common pleas for the appointment of designated persons to act as policemen for the

corporation.

24 P.S. § 6901.318

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations may establish a scholarship program through the Tuition

Account Program.

32 P.S. § 5505

UnderthePennsylvania Conservation Corps Act, projects for corpsmember development and

training may include fee-for-service projects, and community-based IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations are eligible to participate.

35 P.S. § 448.806 

An IRC § 501(c)(3) organization that provides or coordinates the provision of volunteer

services for Medicare-certified hospice providers in the hospice delivery systems of its

community, used “hospice” in its name prior to January 1, 1990, and registered with the

Department of State pursuant to P.L. 1200, No. 202 may continue to use its name without

reregistering.

35 P.S. §§ 6027.3-6027.4

IRC § 501(c)(3) corporations with environmental conservation or preservation purposes are

not liable under the state environmental laws in several situations. For example, an

organization is not liable unless it or its employees or agents directly cause or exacerbate a

release of a regulated substance on or from its property.

40 P.S. § 512

An IRC § 501(c)(3) charitable organization may own or purchase life insurance on an insured

who consents to the ownership or purchase of that insurance.

40 P.S. § 756.3

Blanket accident and sickness insurance is defined to include a policy or contract issued in

the name of a religious, charitable, recreational, educational, or civic organization that covers

participants in activities sponsored by the organization.

42.P.S. § 8332.1

In general, a nonprofit association (and its employees and volunteers) that conducts a sports

program is not liable for civil damages as a result of acts or omissions in conducting the

program, unless its conduct falls substantially below the standards generally practiced and

accepted in like circumstances by similar associations.

42 P.S. § 8332.2

In general, no person who serves without compensation as an officer, director or trustee of

an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization is liable for civil damages as a result of acts or omissions

relating solely to the performance of his or her duties. This rule does not apply if the person's
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conduct falls substantially below the standards generally practiced and accepted in like

circumstances by similar persons.

42 P.S. § 8332.4

In general, volunteers of IRC §§ 501(c)(3), (4), and (6) organizations are not liable for civil

damages as a result of acts or omissions in rendering such services, unless the person’s

conduct falls substantially below the standards generally practiced and accepted in like

circumstances by similar persons.

42 P.S. § 8332.6

An anti-drug or town-watch volunteer of an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization is generally

immune from civil liability for damage caused by acts or omissions done as a volunteer,

unless the person's conduct falls substantially below the standards generally practiced and

accepted in like circumstances by similar persons.

42. P.S. § 8338

In general, a person is not subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age,

packaging or condition of food that the person donated in good faith to a nonprofit

organization for distribution to needy individuals if the food is apparently fit for household

consumption or use.

42 P.S. § 8340

Any charitable agency or organization supervising or administering an approved restitution

or community service program is immune from civil action for damages brought by or on

behalf of a person involved in the program or for damages caused by a person involved in

the program. This rule does not apply if the conduct was intentional, grossly negligent, or

reckless.

43 P.S. § 955

A religious organization, charitable or educational organization operated by a religious

organization, or private or fraternal organization may give preference in hiring to persons

of the same religion or denomination or to members of such private or fraternal organization.

47 P.S. §§ 1-102 and 4-408.4

Certain IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible to obtain special occasion permits which

allow them to sell alcoholic beverages during the same hours as restaurant liquor license

holders and to sell any type of alcohol for consumption off their premises.

52 P.S. § 641

A coal mining operation must supply anthracite fuel coal to a hospital, poorhouse, charitable

institution, school building, church, place of religious worship, or public building located

within the municipality in which the operation is conducted.

53 P.S. §§ 57006 and 67304

No street or road may be laid out and opened through any grounds occupied by a building

used as a place for public worship, public or parochial school, or educational or charitable

institution or seminary, without the consent of the owner.

53 P.S. § 57703

In providing for, regulating, and protecting and extending its system of water distribution,

a township may occupy streets, roads or highways and may take, injure or destroy private
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property. However, property belonging to or used as a cemetery or a place of public worship,

public or parochial school, or educational or charitable institution or seminary may not be

taken, injured or destroyed.

53 P.S. § 57803 

Townships may appropriate private property and land that was granted or dedicated to public

use and is no longer used for that purpose in order to build public buildings. No land or

property used for a cemetery, public or parochial school, educational or charitable institution,

seminary, or place of public worship may be taken.

63 P.S. § 818.5

Charitable nonprofit organizations may sell vehicles at wholesale vehicle auctions.

71 P.S. §§ 2403 and 2404

Under the Religious Freedom Protection Act, a state agency generally may not substantially

burden a person's free exercise of religion, including any burden which results from a rule

of general applicability. The term “person” includes a church, association of churches or

other religious order, body or institution exempt under IRC §§ 501(c)(3) or (d).

75 P.S. § 1336

Dealer registration plates may be used on vehicles that are loaned to charitable organizations

for use in charitable activities.

Eligible to Receive Property or Non-Grant Money

6 P.S. § 33.6

A cleaner, launderer, or shoe repairer may donate unclaimed property to IRC § 501(c)(3)

organizations.

16 P.S. § 2311

Counties may convey all or a part of the title and interest in buildings, with or without the

land, to charitable institutions.

24 P.S. § 7-707

School boards may sell and convey real estate to IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations for the

accepted consideration, which may include payment partly in cash and partly in the form of

a purchase money mortgage and bond to be paid in a period in excess of 5 years from the

date of the mortgage. 

24 P.S. § 7-775

School boards may lease school buildings or athletic fields to any reputable organization or

group of persons for charitable purposes.

32 P.S. § 5053 

Under the Conservation and Preservation Easements Act, IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are

eligible to hold conservation or preservation easements.

43 P.S. §§ 301 and 1301.206

Voluntary contributions to charitable institutions may be deducted from an employee’s,

including a seasonal farmworker’s, wages.
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43 P.S. § 1102.5; 71 P.S. § 575

If an employee has a religious objection to paying a fair share fee, then the equivalent of the

fee may be paid to a nonreligious charity.

72 P.S. § 1301.9

Bicycles held by a municipality for more than 90 days may be donated to a charitable

organization.

73 P.S. § 2105

Under the Fine Arts Preservation Act, an artist has an action to recover damages for damage

to his or her work. If punitive damages are awarded, the court will select a charitable or

educational fine arts organization to receive the damages.

Eligible to Participate in a Program (i.e., Receive Assistance)

3 P.S. § 914.5

Underthe Supplemental Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program, a land trust,

which must be an IRC § 501(c)(3) organization that includes the acquisition of agricultural

or other conservation easements in its stated purpose, may receive reimbursement for

expenses associated with conservation easements (e.g., legal services and appraisals).

16 P.S. §§ 2130 and 5330

A sanitarium for the treatment of persons afflicted with tuberculosis is eligible for funding

if it is engaged in charitable work.

16 P.S. § 2399.55

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from a county's regional asset fund for

the support and upkeep of regional assets.

24 P.S. § 6250.702-A

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants underthe Critical Job Training Program.

27 P.S. §§ 6103 and 6105

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the Environmental Stewardship

and Watershed Protection Program.

32 P.S. § 2013

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants from the Keystone Recreation, Park and

Conservation Fund.

42 P.S. § 4903

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that provide free civil legal services are eligible for grants

under the Access to Justice Act.

53 P.S. § 56547

Townships may appropriate money to support incorporated hospitals engaged in charitable

work.

62 P.S. § 2090.16

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for funding under the Neighborhood Housing

Services Act.
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62 P.S. § 4023

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations that provide free civil legal services are eligible for

distributions under the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts Act.

62 P.S. §§ 4042-4043

IRC § 501(c)(3) regional food banks are eligible for grants under the State Food Purchase

Program.

73 P.S. § 400.2901 

IRC § 501(c)(3) organizations are eligible for grants under the Customized Job Training

Program.