Harmon, Curran, Spielberg + Eisenberg, LLP
Resources
We know that the fields of law in which we specialize can often seem confusing and a bit daunting to the individuals and organizations that need to comply with these rules. In an effort to make things a little easier, here are some documents that we've prepared and gathered to help you understand some important issues and some links to particularly helpful sites that can provide you with more information.
Nonprofit Organizations
Documents
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Issues for Affiliated Organizations - a summary of key issues for related nonprofits (like a 501(c)(3) and a related 501(c)(4)) prepared for a panel on the subject at the May 2010 American Bar Association Tax Section meeting. (The panel featured Harmon Curran partners John Pomeranz and Anne Spielberg, as well as Eve Borenstein from the Borenstein and McVeigh Law Office and Doug Varley of Caplin & Drysdale.)
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Gift Tax on Transfers to 501(c)(4) Organizations - a panel on the subject at the October 2011 joint meeting of the American Bar Association Tax Section and Real Property Trusts and Estates Section. The panel featured Harmon Curran partner John Pomeranz, as well as Ellen Aprill from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and Nancy McGlamery from the San Francisco law firm of Adler & Colvin.
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What the &*#$% is a 501©(3)? - instructions for getting Microsoft to stop "helping" you in every Word document you write by changing your 501(c) organization into a 501© organization.
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Legal Treatment of Nonprofit Organizations - an incomplete listing of benefits, privileges, and special legal treatment afforded nonprofit organizations other than the “usual suspects” of federal income tax exemption and the ability to receive charitable contributions under IRC § 170. (Originally prepared for a panel at the January 2013 American Bar Association Tax Section.
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Federal Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements - an overview of the substantiation and disclosure requirements imposed on 501(c)(3) charities and their donors.
Links
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The IRS website for charities and nonprofits offers a host of important resources for nonprofit organizations, including:
- Publication 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization - a detailed guide to the different types of tax-exempt organizations and the process for getting the IRS to recognize an organization as exempt from federal tax.
- Compliance guides for tax-exempt organizations - a series of IRS-produced guides to help different types of tax-exempt organizations understand and comply with their legal obligations.
- Life Cycle of an Exempt Organization - a series of pages for different types of tax-exempt organizations (501(c)(3) public charities, 501(c)(3) private foundations, 501(c)(4)s, etc.) on which the IRS highlights key issues the organizations face (incorporation, applying for recognition of tax-exempt status, accepting contributions, etc.) and points to relevant IRS guidance on each issue.
- Charitable Contribution Substantiation and Disclosure Requirements (Publication 1771)
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Guidestar offers a searchable database of 501(c)(3)s and other tax-exempt organizations, offering information that includes copies of the organizations' recently filed IRS Form 990s. (Free registration required. Additional services available for a fee.)
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The District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs regulates nonprofit corporations operating in our hometown of Washington, D.C. Search online to see if a nonprofit corporation is still in good standing with the DCRA, learn more about the 2-Year Report that must be filed by every nonprofit in D.C., or find out how to apply for a General or Basic Business License. (A BBL is required to solicit charitable contributions in D.C., and a GBL is required for many nonprofits that don't solicit donations.)
Advocacy + Politics
Documents
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Lobbying Definitions under the 501(h) Expenditure Test, a fact sheet summarizing what is and isn’t lobbying for 501(c)(3)s that have elected to measure their lobbying under the 501(h) expenditure test.
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Lobbying and Nonprofits: Rules for Sharing Your Expertise, an article on the rules governing lobbying by 501(c)(3)s charities and foundation and other types of tax-exempt organization.
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Foundations and Lobbying, a table summarizing the rules for 501(c)(3) private foundation support of organizations that lobby.
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Staying Legal While Engaging in Election-Year Activities, an article on what tax-exempt organizations can and can't do in an election year.
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501(c)(3)s and Election-Related Activities, a fact sheet summarizing the rules for election-related activities by 501(c)(3)s (and the people who work for them).
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FECA Coordinated Communications, a summary of when communications made at the request or suggestion of a candidate for federal office will be treated as a contribution to that candidate.
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FECA Disclaimers and Disclosures, a summary of federal election rules for what disclaimers are required on communications about federal candidate and what disclosures to the Federal Election Commission are required.
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Politics and Lobbying, a regular column in the journal Taxation of Exempts by Harmon Curran partner Beth Kingsley on various topics related to lobbying and political activity by tax-exempt organizations.
Links
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The Federal Election Commission website is the essential source for information about federal election laws and the candidates and political committees those laws govern. Among the resources you'll find on the site are campaign guides (with regular supplements to capture recent developments) for corporations and labor organizations; for nonconnected political committees; and for other types of entities subject to regulation under federal election law (available from the FEC publications page).
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Senate and House guidance on the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act, which requires organizations and lobbying firms that engage certain threshold amounts of "lobbying" (as that term is defined under teh Act) to register and file reports with the two houses of Congress.
Employment
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The Department of Labor offers useful guidance on federal Fair Labor Standards Act (the main federal wage and hour law).
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Anne Spielberg and Ruth Eisenberg present Worker Classification Issues seminar on October 20, 2010. Click here to view the slides from the presentation.
Environment + Nuclear Safety
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On behalf of our client the Union of Concerned Scientists, Harmon Curran partner Diane Curran recently filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing against the government's invasion of the privacy of scientists working for independent academic institutions.
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On behalf our our client San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, Harmon Curran partner Diane Curran won a ground-breaking U.S. Court of Appeals decision that required the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to consider the environmental impacts of intentional attacks on a proposed storage facility for spent nuclear fuel.