Contributors in municipal studies, law, and philanthropic studies discuss property-tax exemption for charities and how public perception on property-owning charities differs from reality. They survey the legal and political landscape of property-tax exemption for nonprofit organizations, examine the development of the current structure of nonprofit property-tax exemption and its legal rationales, and assess mechanisms adopted by local municipalities to offset some of the revenue lost because of exempt properties. Material originated at the December 1997 26th Annual Conference of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.
"The United States Code is the official codification of the general and permanent laws of the United States of America. The Code was first published in 1926, and a new edition of the code has been published every six years since 1934. The 2012 edition of the Code incorporates laws enacted through the One Hundred Twelfth Congress, Second Session, the last of which was signed by the President on January 15, 2013. It does not include laws of the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, enacted between January 2, 2013, the date it convened, and January 15, 2013. By statutory authority this edition may be cited "U.S.C. 2012 ed." As adopted in 1926, the Code established prima facie the general and permanent laws of the United States. The underlying statutes reprinted in the Code remained in effect and controlled over the Code in case of any discrepancy. In 1947, Congress began enacting individual titles of the Code into positive law. When a title is enacted into positive law, the underlying statutes are repealed and the title then becomes legal evidence of the law. Currently, 26 of the 51 titles in the Code have been so enacted. These are identified in the table of titles near the beginning of each volume. The Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives continues to prepare legislation pursuant to 2 U.S.C. 285b to enact the remainder of the Code, on a title-by-title basis, into positive law. The 2012 edition of the Code was prepared and published under the supervision of Ralph V. Seep, Law Revision Counsel. Grateful acknowledgment is made of the contributions by all who helped in this work, particularly the staffs of the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and the Government Printing Office"--Preface.
Millions of donors annually give hundreds of billions of dollars to charities. While this giving helps meet charitable purposes, congressional & media concerns have arisen about whether some charities spend too much on fundraising & general management & not enough on program services to meet the charitable purposes related to the tax-exempt status. Such concerns have heightened since the outflow of charitable giving after 9/11. This report focuses on the adequacy of: (1) publicly reported Form 990 data on charity spending in facilitating public oversight of charities, (2) IRS's oversight of charities, & (3) IRS's data sharing with state agencies that oversee charities. Includes reviews of studies on charities from 1994-1999. Charts & tables.
In A Good Tax, tax expert Joan Youngman skillfully considers how to improve the operation of the property tax and supply the information that is often missing in public debate. She analyzes the legal, administrative, and political challenges to the property tax in the United States and offers recommendations for its improvement. The book is accessibly written for policy analysts and public officials who are dealing with specific property tax issues and for those concerned with property tax issues in general.
A recent Supreme Court decision confirmed the churches' right to tax exemption for religious property. In this highly relevant book, Alfred Balk places this question in social perspective and demonstrates how tax exemption and immunity affect the fiscal load of local communities and the well-being of our whole society. Among the "free list" or tax-free properties which the author examines are churches, hospitals, schools, and government buildings. Seven specific proposals for reform are set forth.
Considers earlier efforts to finance nonprofit organizations by means of "fiscal agency," the legal problems which ensued, and efforts to correct them through "fiscal sponsorship."
In this dramatic volume, investigative reporters Gaul and Borowski of The Philadelphia Inquirer pull back the curtain on a shadow economy: over a million tax-exempt nonprofit organizations supported by taxes from the rest of us--including the National Football League and the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences.
