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On Wed, 2011-03-23 at 20:40 +0000, Matthew Summers wrote: |
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> |
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> 5. The Gentoo Foundation has been and is in good standing with NM, |
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> having filed all necessary documents on time since I joined. |
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Where are the annual financial reports that are required to be filed |
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with New Mexico? |
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"All charitable organizations existing, operating or soliciting |
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contributions in the State of New Mexico must register with the New |
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Mexico Attorney General and must file annual financial reports." |
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http://www.tax.newmexico.gov/Businesses/How-Do-I/Pages/Start-Registera-Non-Profit.aspx |
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> 6. I live in the US. |
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> 7. The Gentoo Foundation has been completely transparent regarding |
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> finances since the recovery. |
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If that was the case, the information I seek would already be available |
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and I would not be bring this matter up at all. |
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> |
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> William, |
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> |
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> I appreciate your perspective regarding the Gentoo Foundation. |
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> Unfortunately, the main reason the Foundation has not achieved proper |
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> status with the IRS is directly due to the irresponsibility and/or |
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> negligence of the former (pre-2008) board of trustees. |
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Which should have been corrected permanently in 2008. |
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> I do not say this to be mean-spirited, please note. This irresponsibility is |
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> manifest in the fact that correct status with the IRS was not filed |
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> within 27 months of the start of the organization, which would be |
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> sometime in 2004. It is that simple. |
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So an organization can never re-file or start over? You can cease one |
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legal entity and start a new one at any time. If there were mistakes in |
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the, past, there are easy ways to correct moving forward. |
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> This has in fact been a huge obstacle to the development of the |
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> Foundation as a non-profit entity. I was not involved with Gentoo, |
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> except as a user, during that time. Now, you have made and continue to |
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> make many claims in your various statements regarding the Foundation, |
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> some are quite novel while others are rather unhelpful. |
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Well if others were doing their duties, I would not be commenting either |
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way ;) |
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> Its completely true that the Foundation is not what it could be. I |
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> perhaps recognize this more than others given that I work closely with |
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> non-profits on a daily basis and know what the world holds in store |
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> for a fully operational 501(c)(3) Gentoo Foundation. |
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As I pointed out back in 2008, 501c3 takes 5 years. Which is a 5yr |
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probation period, which you must be in 100% compliance, or you lose the |
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status retroactively. |
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> I understand your frustrations regarding action and/or inaction |
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> within the board, but you must realize that the Foundation is not a |
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> dictatorship. We, the board I mean, are working together towards the |
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> common goals of Gentoo, while taking on a rather large legal |
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> responsibility. |
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You really need to explain to me the role and duties of an entity I was |
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part of before you? :) |
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We got quite allot done in 2008. I am very displeased there was a motion |
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to amend the bylaws back in 2009, but they have not been updated to |
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reflect such. Which is not anything major to make happen. |
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> You make many valid points regarding the need for |
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> financial professionals, etc, and I can assure you that I have used my |
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> CPA for many things Gentoo, paid for out of my own pocket. |
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Thats great, but Gentoo's needs it own CPA that Gentoo pays for. Also |
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the foundation should reimburse you for any of those expenses. |
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> I am happy to do that for now, since paying an actual CPA to handle an |
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> organization like the Gentoo Foundation can cost in excess of $1200 |
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> per month. |
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That is just silly speculation. No CPA in their right mind, give the |
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amount of revenue Gentoo deals with on an annual basis would ever charge |
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such on a monthly basis. I can't even see them charging $1200 for annual |
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compliance. Now in this situation, I can see it costing in excess of |
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that to hire someone to correct the mess. |
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> I think you may agree that the Foundation cannot afford |
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> this. |
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If the foundation loses its NPO status, it will be instantly bankrupt in |
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paying back taxes, fines, etc. |
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> The values you quote for income are skewed since Google paid us |
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> for previous years GSoC. The actual income of the Foundation on a |
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> yearly basis averages less than $12,000. |
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Exactly my point, if you look at the form with the IRS, its an ecard |
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that needs to be filed. This is not major stuff, and a CPA would not |
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spend much if any time on such. |
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I still do my own taxes for my business which I also own. |
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> Further, I have used my attorneys for various bits and the Foundation |
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> has been assisted by the SFLC on various issues. |
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Unless they are tax attorneys, thats moot in this discussion. Though we |
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had discussed the SFLC and other matters back in 08. |
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> As I see a few more emails from you coming down the line, I will |
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> address those now. You are stirring the pot, sir. Please refrain from |
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> this as it does no good. You are attempting to scare people by your |
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> statements and I will not stand for it. Its quite clear that you are |
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> misinformed regarding the status of the Gentoo Foundation with the |
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> IRS. We, due to what I mention above, never received non-profit or |
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> tax-exempt status. In fact, that has been very difficult, and it's |
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> something we have been working on for many months now. |
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You can see things however you like. If I am wrong, then I will easily |
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be dismissed as fud. However if I am correct..... |
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Do you have any facts to show me to prove otherwise? Do you have copies |
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of annual financial reports sent to New Mexico and the IRS? If they |
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exist why are they not published on g.o? |
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> The Foundation is in no real danger. |
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What proof do you have of this? If I called the IRS would they confirm |
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that? |
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> Yes, we will likely have some tax |
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> penalties to deal with, however the Foundation's income has been well |
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> below federal minimums, so those penalties will be low. |
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Um no, loss of exempt status is not small. Even the minimal amounts of |
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revenue over the years, taxes will then have to be paid on. Gentoo |
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immediately becomes a for profit entity and has to comply as such. Then |
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Gentoo has to expend time, money, and resources, to regain NPO status. |
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Much less dream and hope for 501c3 status/ |
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> This is especially true if we are able to make a convincing case regarding why |
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> the Foundation did not observe the 27 month guideline in our 1023 |
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> application. |
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What 27 months? 501c3 takes 5 years.... Which I pointed out by reference |
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IRS documents back in 2008. |
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> All of this is actually being dealt with by competent individuals, |
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> despite what you may believe. What was left by the old trustees was a |
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> mess that will take awhile longer to sort out, but have no fear we |
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> will sort it out. |
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Look if things were published as they should be, then I would believe |
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otherwise. If these things exist, why have they not been published? |
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Convince me with proof, make me a believer. Because anytime I look, I am |
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not seeing anything. |
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> Lastly, I am preparing a proposal for review by the other board |
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> members that will address much of what you are taking issue with, as I |
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> believe at this point its time to bring in some funded professional |
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> assistance. I would highly encourage you to review the logs of our |
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> past meetings as I think you will see that we are addressing most if |
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> not all of your concerns. |
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Again Gentoo should have hired a CPA back in 2008. I recall a post on |
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g.o in the news some time back about a CPA. Does Gentoo have a CPA right |
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now? If Gentoo does not have a CPA, why? |
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> Thank you very much for your interest in the Gentoo Foundation and its |
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> continued health. |
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I am a member of and have contributed to the Gentoo Foundation. Thus its |
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my right to speak up, or question such things. Like it or not ;) |
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-- |
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William L. Thomson Jr. |
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Obsidian-Studios, Inc. |
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http://www.obsidian-studios.com |