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On Mon, Jun 29, 2020 at 4:27 AM Ulrich Mueller <ulm@g.o> wrote: |
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> |
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> > * long-term continue to exist as-is non-501c6 state |
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> > * finish 501c6 state |
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> > * convert to 501c3 in some way |
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> |
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> If it continues to exist, then one of the two tax-exempt states. I am |
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> not familiar with the details, so I don't know what the legal obstacles |
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> for either of them are. (As I understand it, 501c3 is the equivalent of |
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> "gemeinnützig" in Germany.) |
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I believe 501c6 is relatively easy to do, but donations received are |
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not deductible to the donor (something increasingly less relevant in |
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the US due to the increase in the standard deduction). 501c3 is hard, |
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because it is actually recognized as a charity. |
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Examples of 501c3s: |
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SPI |
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SFLC |
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EFF |
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American Red Cross |
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Amnesty International |
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Doctors Without Borders USA |
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Examples of 501c6s: |
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OSSI |
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Linux Foundation |
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Bitcoin Foundation |
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National Football League (the other football) - this might actually be |
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in a state of flux/transition away from this status |
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US Chamber of Commerce |
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Distilled Spirits Council of the United States |
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American Petroleum Institute |
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American Medical Association |
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Tobacco Merchants Association of the United States Inc |
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Basically 501c3 has to demonstrate a benefit to the public (but they |
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cannot advocate/campaign for politicians), and 501c6 has to |
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demonstrate that they primarily benefit other corporations/trades/etc |
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(they're exempt under the logic that they serve to increase the |
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profits of other organizations that do pay taxes). The bar is |
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obviously lower for 501c6 but the benefits of this status are also |
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limited. |
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IMO 501c3 is more in keeping with our community-based tone, but I |
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started caring a lot less about this after the recent US tax changes |
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which makes this status almost irrelevant to anybody who isn't a |
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fairly large donor (the benefit applies if you cumulatively donate to |
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a lot of orgs in general - not just a large donation to one org). I'm |
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not sure that 501c6 really reflects where we want to be, but it might |
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save us some tax dollars. I'd be interested in just how much it would |
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actually save us though - it might make sense to just be a regular |
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corp from an IRS standpoint (which is very little red tape if you pay |
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your taxes, and it results in almost no restrictions on what you can |
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do - corporations are people too after all...). |
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-- |
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Rich |
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-- |
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Rich |
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