Publication 557 |
2001 Tax Year |
Other Section 501(c)(3) Organizations
In addition to the information required for all organizations, as
described earlier, you should include any other information described
in this section.
Charitable Organizations
If your organization is applying for recognition of exemption as a
charitable organization, it must show that it is organized and
operated for purposes that are beneficial to the public interest. Some
examples of this type of organization are those organized for:
- Relief of the poor, the distressed, or the
underprivileged,
- Advancement of religion,
- Advancement of education or science,
- Erection or maintenance of public buildings, monuments, or
works,
- Lessening the burdens of government,
- Lessening of neighborhood tensions,
- Elimination of prejudice and discrimination,
- Defense of human and civil rights secured by law, and
- Combating community deterioration and juvenile
delinquency.
The rest of this section contains a description of the
information to be provided by certain specific organizations. This
information is in addition to the required inclusions
described in chapter 1, and other statements requested on Form
1023. Each of the following organizations must submit the information
described.
Charitable organization supporting education.
Submit information showing how your organization supports education
-- for example, contributes to an existing educational
institution, endows a professorial chair, contributes toward paying
teachers' salaries, or contributes to an educational institution to
enable it to carry on research.
Scholarships.
If the organization awards or plans to award scholarships, complete
Schedule H of Form 1023. Submit the following also.
- Criteria used for selecting recipients, including the rules
of eligibility.
- How and by whom the recipients are or will be
selected.
- If awards are or will be made directly to individuals,
whether information is required assuring that the student remains in
school.
- If awards are or will be made to recipients of a particular
class, for example, children of employees of a particular
employer--
- Whether any preference is or will be accorded an applicant
by reason of the parent's position, length of employment, or
salary,
- Whether as a condition of the award the recipient must upon
graduation accept employment with the company, and
- Whether the award will be continued even if the parent's
employment ends.
- A copy of the scholarship application form and any brochures
or literature describing the scholarship program.
Hospital.
If you are organized to operate a charitable hospital, complete and
attach Section I of Schedule C, Form 1023.
If your hospital was transferred to you from proprietary ownership,
complete and attach Schedule I of Form 1023. You must attach a list
showing:
- The names of the active and courtesy staff members of the
proprietary hospital, as well as the names of your medical staff
members after the transfer to nonprofit ownership, and
- The names of any doctors who continued to lease office space
in the hospital after its transfer to nonprofit ownership and the
amount of rent paid. Submit also an appraisal showing the fair rental
value of the rented space.
Clinic.
If you are organized to operate a clinic, attach a statement
including:
- A description of the facilities and services,
- To whom the services are offered, such as the public at
large or a specific group,
- How charges are determined, such as on a profit basis, to
recover costs, or at less than cost,
- By whom administered and controlled,
- Whether any of the professional staff (that is, those who
perform or will perform the clinical services) also serve or will
serve in an administrative capacity, and
- How compensation paid the professional staff is or will be
determined.
Home for the aged.
If you are organized to operate a home for the aged, complete and
attach Schedule F of Form 1023. Explain on Schedule F:
- How charges are or will be determined, such as on a profit
basis, to recover costs, or at less than cost, and whether the charges
are based on providing service at the lowest feasible cost to the
residents,
- Whether all residents are or will be required to pay
fees,
- Whether any residents are or will be accepted at lower rates
or entirely without pay and, if so, how many, and
- Whether federal mortgage financing has been applied for and
if so, the type.
Community nursing bureau.
If you provide a nursing register or community nursing bureau,
provide information showing that your organization will be operated as
a community project and will receive its primary support from public
contributions to maintain a nonprofit register of qualified nursing
personnel, including graduate nurses, unregistered nursing school
graduates, licensed attendants and practical nurses for the benefit of
hospitals, health agencies, doctors, and individuals.
Organization providing loans.
If you make, or will make loans for charitable and educational
purposes, submit the following information.
- An explanation of the circumstances under which such loans
are, or will be, made.
- Criteria for selection, including the rules of
eligibility.
- How and by whom the recipients are or will be
selected.
- Manner of repayment of the loan.
- Security required, if any.
- Interest charged, if any, and when payable.
- Copies in duplicate of the loan application and any
brochures or literature describing the loan program.
Public-interest law firms.
If your organization was formed to litigate in the public interest
(as opposed to providing legal services to the poor), such as in the
area of protection of the environment, you should submit the following
information.
- How the litigation can reasonably be said to be
representative of a broad public interest rather than a private
one.
- Whether the organization will accept fees for its
services.
- A description of the cases litigated or to be litigated and
how they benefit the public generally.
- Whether the policies and program of the organization are the
responsibility of a board or committee representative of the public
interest, which is neither controlled by employees or persons who
litigate on behalf of the organization nor by any organization that is
not itself an organization described in this chapter.
- Whether the organization is operated, through sharing of
office space or otherwise, in a way to create identification or
confusion with a particular private law firm.
- Whether there is an arrangement to provide, directly or
indirectly, a deduction for the cost of litigation that is for the
private benefit of the donor.
Acceptance of attorneys' fees.
A nonprofit public-interest law firm can accept attorneys' fees in
public interest cases if the fees are paid directly by its clients and
the fees are not more than the actual costs incurred in the case. Once
undertaking a representation, the organization cannot withdraw from
the case because the litigant is unable to pay the fee.
Firms can accept fees awarded or approved by a court or an
administrative agency and paid by an opposing party if the firms
do not use the likelihood or probability of fee awards as a
consideration in the selection of cases. All fee awards must be paid
to the organization and not to its individual staff attorneys.
Instead, a public-interest law firm can reasonably compensate its
staff attorneys, but only on a straight salary basis. Private
attorneys, whose services are retained by the firm to assist it in
particular cases, can be compensated by the firm, but only on a fixed
fee or salary basis.
The total amount of all attorneys' fees (court awarded and those
received from clients) must not be more than 50% of the total cost of
operations of the organization's legal functions, calculated over a
5-year period.
If, in order to carry out its program, an organization violates
applicable canons of ethics, disrupts the judicial system, or engages
in any illegal action, the organization will jeopardize its exemption.
Religious Organizations
To determine whether an organization meets the religious purposes
test of section 501(c)(3), the IRS maintains two basic guidelines.
- That the particular religious beliefs of the organization
are truly and sincerely held.
- That the practices and rituals associated with the
organization's religious belief or creed are not illegal or contrary
to clearly defined public policy.
Therefore, your group (or organization) may not qualify for
treatment as an exempt religious organization for tax purposes if its
actions, as contrasted with its beliefs, are contrary to well
established and clearly defined public policy. If there is a clear
showing that the beliefs (or doctrines) are sincerely held by those
professing them, the IRS will not question the religious nature of
those beliefs.
Churches.
Although a church, its integrated auxiliaries, or a convention or
association of churches is not required to file Form 1023 to be exempt
from federal income tax or to receive tax deductible contributions,
the organization may find it advantageous to obtain recognition of
exemption. In this event, you should submit information showing that
your organization is a church, synagogue, association or convention of
churches, religious order, or religious organization that is an
integral part of a church, and that it is engaged in carrying out the
function of a church.
In determining whether an admittedly religious organization is also
a church, the IRS does not accept any and every assertion that the
organization is a church. Because beliefs and practices vary so
widely, there is no single definition of the word church
for tax purposes. The IRS considers the facts and circumstances
of each organization applying for church status.
Integrated auxiliaries.
An organization is an integrated auxiliary of a church if all the
following are true.
- The organization is described both in sections 501(c)(3) and
509(a)(1), 509(a)(2), or 509(a)(3).
- It is affiliated with a church or a convention or
association of churches.
- It is internally supported. An organization is internally
supported unless both of the following are true.
- It offers admissions, goods, services or facilities for
sale, other than on an incidental basis, to the general public (except
goods, services, or facilities sold at a nominal charge or for a small
part of the cost).
- It normally gets more than 50% of its support from a
combination of governmental sources, public solicitation of
contributions, and receipts from the sale of admissions, goods,
performance of services, or furnishing of facilities in activities
that are not unrelated trades or businesses.
Special rule.
Men's and women's organizations, seminaries, mission societies, and
youth groups that satisfy (1) and (2) above are integrated auxiliaries
of a church even if they are not internally supported.
Note.
In order for an organization (including a church and religious
organization) to qualify for tax exemption, no part of its net
earnings may benefit any individual.
Although an individual is entitled to a charitable deduction for
contributions to a church, the assignment or similar transfer of
compensation for personal services to a church generally does not
relieve a taxpayer of federal income tax liability on the
compensation, regardless of the motivation behind the transfer.
Scientific Organizations
You must show that your organization's research will be carried on
in the public interest. Scientific research will be considered to be
in the public interest if the results of the research (including any
patents, copyrights, processes, or formulas) are made available to the
public on a nondiscriminatory basis; if the research is performed for
the United States or a state, county, or municipal government; or if
the research is carried on for one of the following purposes.
- Aiding in the scientific education of college or university
students.
- Obtaining scientific information that is published in a
treatise, thesis, trade publication, or in any other form that is
available to the interested public.
- Discovering a cure for a disease.
- Aiding a community or geographical area by attracting new
industry to the community or area, or by encouraging the development
or retention of an industry in the community or area.
Scientific research, for exemption purposes, does not include
activities of a type ordinarily incidental to commercial or industrial
operations such as the ordinary inspection or testing of materials or
products, or the designing or constructing of equipment, buildings,
etc.
If you engage or plan to engage in research, submit all of the
following.
- An explanation of the nature of the research.
- A brief description of research projects completed or
presently being engaged in.
- How and by whom research projects are determined and
selected.
- Whether you have, or contemplate, contracted or sponsored
research and, if so, names of past sponsors or grantors, terms of
grants or contracts, together with copies of any executed contracts or
grants.
- Disposition made or to be made of the results of your
research, including whether preference has been or will be given to
any organization or individual either as to results or time of
release.
- Who will retain ownership or control of any patents,
copyrights, processes or formulas resulting from your research.
- A copy of publications or other media showing reports of
your research activities. Only reports of your research activities or
those conducted in your behalf, as distinguished from those of your
creators or members conducted in their individual capacities, should
be submitted.
Literary Organizations
If your organization is established to operate a book store or
engage in publishing activities of any nature (printing, publication,
or distribution of your own material or that printed or published by
others and distributed by you), explain fully the nature of the
operations, including whether sales are or will be made to the general
public, the type of literature involved, and how these activities are
related to your stated purposes.
Amateur Athletic Organizations
There are two types of amateur athletic organizations that can
qualify for tax-exempt status. The first type is an organization that
fosters national or international amateur sports competition but only
if none of its activities involve providing athletic facilities or
equipment. The second type is a Qualified amateur sports
organization (discussed below). The difference is that a
qualified amateur sports organization may provide athletic facilities
and equipment.
Donations to either amateur athletic organization are deductible as
charitable contributions on the donor's federal income tax return.
However, no deduction is allowed if there is a direct personal benefit
to the donor or any other person other than the organization.
Qualified amateur sports organization.
An organization will be a qualified amateur sports organization if
it is organized and operated:
- Exclusively to foster national or international amateur
sports competition, and
- Primarily to conduct national or international competition
in sports or to support and develop amateur athletes for that
competition.
The organization's membership may be local or regional in
nature.
Prevention of Cruelty
to Children or Animals
Examples of activities that may qualify this type of organization
for exempt status are:
- Preventing children from working in hazardous trades or
occupations,
- Promoting high standards of care for laboratory animals,
and
- Providing funds to pet owners to have their pets spayed or
neutered to prevent overbreeding.
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