EO Tax Journal

1 – The EOTJ Mailbag

2 – Latest EO Committee Meeting Preview Continue…

1 – The EOTJ Mailbag

In response to my comments Friday on the letter to the IRS from the Chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee, Dean Zerbe, National Managing Director for the alliantgroup, LP, Washington, D.C., has this to say:

“Paul — the House Oversight letter is first-rate. EO and the charitable sector greatly benefit from oversight — and it is an often-forgotten responsibility of Congress. I see nothing other than straightforward common sense questions from the Chairman. You should be thrilled.”

2 – Latest Challenge to Section 107 Parsonage Allowance Continue…

1 – The EOTJ Mailbag

Editor’s diatribe decried. Please keep those cards and letters coming.

2 – Chairman of House Oversight Subcommittee Seeks Information on IRS Efforts in the EO Area Continue…

As part of the panel on Healthcare Reform under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, it appears Elizabeth Mills will be discussing joint ventures at the October 21 meeting of the EO Committee of the ABA’s Tax Section. As one can tell from her outline, reprinted below, this is an important area that has largely been ignored by the IRS in recent years. Thirteen years ago we got Rev. Rul. 98-15 and its two extreme examples — good Situation 1 and bad Situation 2. Then we had a couple of court cases and, as Mills notes, we had Rev. Rul. 2004-51, “the most recent Service pronouncement on joint ventures.” Since this is a no-rule area, there are no private letter rulings. It has been reported that the IRS has accepted some joint venture arrangements in the context of applications for exemption, but we’ve learned few details. Continue…

Yesterday I went to day one of the annual tax program of the American Health Lawyers Association. The tone of the conference seemed to me to be set by the first session, “Through the Looking Glass,” featuring Theresa Pattara, Tax Counsel to Senator Charles Grassley, and Ron Schultz, who spearheaded the revised Form 990 effort when he was with the IRS, but who now resides within the hallowed halls of PricewaterhouseCoopers. As backdrop, we really needed David Fish’s musical accompaniment, with him singing, a la Mary Hopkins: “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end, we’d sing and dance forever and a day.”

As it is, peace reigns in the valley, now that the big bad wolf, Chuck Grassley, has moved to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and his sidekick, Dean Zerbe, to private practice. While Theresa reminded us of those days of lightning bolts, now section 501(r) and the defanged Schedule H are looked upon mostly as profit opportunities for accountants and attorneys, certainly not the feared Armageddon. Ron Schultz reminded us that the worst that came out of those fearful days was the need for a hospital to do a community health needs assessment. Other than some misguided folks in Illinois, all is well in the hospital community, at least from a tax perspective, in year 2011.

Following Pattara and Schultz was Steve Clarke, who is now the IRS’s ultimate authority on all Form 990 matters. He brought with him two colleagues, Judy Kindell and Garrett Gluth. Judy said that for the IRS folks it’s Happy New Year. Again, we needed David Fish, this time to sing Auld Lang Syne to mark the end of the IRS’s fiscal year. Not surprisingly, the EO Division is starting its new year without a workplan, but Judy promises it “soon,” which probably means we can expect it in time for Valentine’s Day. Speaking of the EO Division, my latest roster is already out of date, as Melaney Partner has been selected as the new Customer Education & Outreach director, and Holly Paz will be going on maternity leave, with the aforementioned David Fish acting for her, and Mary Jo Salins acting for him. The good news coming out of the EO Division is that, of the 300,000 automatic revocations, only 4,000 have sought reinstatement to date, indicating that most revoked organizations are defunct, hopefully abating Bill Brockner’s fears that these mass revocations would be cataclysmic for his beloved garden clubs and similar organizations clueless as to their tax obligations.  Continue…