Vow of Obedience in Civil and Canon Law

Canon 601 states: The evangelical counsel of obedience, undertaken in the spirit of faith and love in the following of Christ, who was obedient even unto death, obliges submission of one’s will to lawful Superiors, who act in the place of God when they give commands that are in accordance with each institute’s own constitutions.

The vow of obedience takes religious into the heart of the mystery of Christ that we celebrate in this Paschal season. In faith and love, we enter in a special way into the following of Christ, obedient to death. Undertaken in this spirit, each institute comes to an understanding and practice of the vow that develops over time. Read more....

For more on the vow of obedience and the exercise of authority view the recording of May's webcast on The Vow of Obedience in Civil and Canon Law. Click here....

Reinstatement of Exempt Status

In the past 5 years, many organizations had their tax exempt status revoked for non-filing of their annual information returns. 

The IRS recently issued Revenue Procedure 2014-11, 2014-3 I.R.B. 411 (the “Revenue Procedure”) providing procedures for reinstating the tax-exempt status of organizations that have had their tax-exempt status automatically revoked under section 6033(j) of the Internal Revenue Code for failure to file required annual returns or notices for three consecutive years. The Revenue Procedure modifies and supersedes Notice 2011-44, 2011-25 I.R.B. 883 (the “Notice”).

In general, the Notice permitted certain organizations to request reinstatement of its tax-exempt status effective from the date of the organization’s automatic revocation (“retroactive reinstatement”) if the organization filed its application for reinstatement of tax-exempt status within 15 months of the revocation and proved reasonable cause for failing to file the required annual return or notice in each of the three consecutive years and over the entire consecutive three-year period. The Revenue Procedure liberalizes the criteria for requesting retroactive reinstatement for an organization that (i) was eligible to file Form 990-EZ or Form 990-N for each of the three consecutive years it failed to file, (ii) has not previously had its tax-exempt status automatically revoked pursuant to section 6033(j), and (iii) files its application for reinstatement within 15 months of the revocation and pays the applicable user fee. Under the Revenue Procedure, such organizations will be deemed to have reasonable cause for its failures to file Form 990-EZ or Form 990-N, as applicable, for each of the three consecutive years and will be retroactively reinstated upon the IRS’s approval of such organization’s application for reinstatement.

The Revenue Procedure can be read in full here.

Form 1023: Application for Tax Exemption

IRS interactive application for tax exemption has been updated. Click here....

Applying for Exemption/Misc. Determination: Sample Questions

Applications for exemption and miscellaneous determination requests are assigned to Exempt Organizations specialists for review. If additional information is necessary to make a determination, a specialist will contact the organization for the information. See sample questions....

IRS Releases Revised Form 990 Instructions

The 2013 Forms 990 and 990-EZ, schedules and instructions have been revised to modify and clarify certain reporting requirements. A chart summarizing some of the more significant changes to the Form 990, Form 990-EZ, schedules and instructions for tax year 2013 may be accessed by clicking here.

Liability and Type I Supporting Organizations

Tax exempt public charities (Charity), such as schools, churches and hospitals, are subject to tort liability for accidents, etc. To help segregate liability, charities may consider owning the property in a separate entity, such as a Type I Supporting Organization.

The Type I Supporting Organization (TI-SO), organized as a separate corporation under state law, is described in Section 509(a) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and in Treas. Reg. §1.509(a)-4(g) (1). The newly created TI-SO would be "operated, supervised, or controlled" by the Charity through its right of appointment of a majority of the TI-SO’s officers and directors. In fact, the Charity and the TI-SO can have identical officers and directors if desired. All of the TI-SO’s revenue can pass solely to the Charity, in a relationship equivalent to a corporate parent and its wholly owned subsidiary in a for-profit context.

This TI-SO design can shield the Charity from liability; if there is a lawsuit against the TI-SO arising from a tort on the property, the Charity's assets could be protected. In one case, even with identity of officers and directors, by itself, a plaintiff could not pierce the corporate veil and impose liability against the Charity. See, e.g., United States Fire Insurance Company v. Allied Towing Corp., 966 F.2d 820 (4th Cir.1992), where the Court held that, where "no other justification for piercing the veil appears in the record," the fact that the two corporations "effectively have identical officers and directors [is] alone insufficient to permit the piercing of the corporate veil."

Thus, a Charity can create a non profit corporation under state law to own property and seek IRS approval as a TI-SO to help protect the Charity's assets.

Tax Changes for Individuals 2013

The IRS summarizes important tax changes that took effect in 2013. Most of these changes are discussed in more detail throughout publication 17.  Click here....

Investment Funds Maintained by Charitable Organizations

Section 3(c)(10)(A)(ii) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 generally exempts a private investment fund from registering as an investment company if it is maintained by a charitable organization and is organized and operated exclusively for religious, education, benevolent, fraternal, chartable or reformatory purposes (“Permitted Purposes”) for the collective investment and reinvestment of certain assets.  Recently, the SEC provided new guidance to alleviate concerns related to the use of this exemption.... Read more.

Reinstatement of Exempt Status

New IRS released new procedures: Applying for Reinstatement of Tax-Exempt Status … Rev Proc 2014-11

Directors and Officers Insurance for Nonprofits

The following article is a summary of an NPCC workshop on the topic of whether or not an organization should carry Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance and what the NPCC plan offers. NPCC members can obtain a low-cost comprehensive policy through a program administered by Crystal Financial Services and underwritten by National Union Insurance. NPCC's past president, Peter Swords has been involved with the issue of D&O liability insurance, and led this session.... Read more....