Historical Development and Present Law of the Federal Tax Exemption for Charities and Other Tax-Exempt Organizations
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HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT AND PRESENT LAW OF THE FEDERAL TAX EXEMPTION FOR CHARITIES AND OTHER TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS Scheduled for a Public Hearing Before the HOUSE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS on April 20, 2005 Prepared by the Staff of the JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION April 19, 2005 JCX-29-05 CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 2 I. OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONS EXEMPT FROM FEDERAL INCOME TAX ... 18 A. Size and Growth of the Exempt and Charitable Sector ............................................ 18 B. Reasons for Tax Exemption...................................................................................... 27 C. Common Tax Law Features of Exempt Organizations............................................. 37 II. HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF THE EXEMPT STATUS OF SECTION 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATIONS......................................................................................... 45 A. In General.................................................................................................................. 45 B. Summary of Threshold Requirements of Charitable Status ..................................... 48 C. Exempt Purposes of Section 501(c)(3) Organizations.............................................. 61 D. Public Charity or Private Foundation ....................................................................... 82 E. General History of the Unrelated Business Income Tax ........................................ 100 F. Related Organization Structures Involving Exempt Organizations........................ 110 III. SPECIFIC TYPES OF CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS AND EVOLVING STANDARDS OF CHARITY ....................................................................................... 122 A. Overview................................................................................................................. 122 B. Charitable Hospitals................................................................................................ 123 C. Elder Care Facilities................................................................................................ 132 D. Credit Counseling Organizations............................................................................ 135 E. Low-income Housing..............................................................................................139 F. Environmental Organizations................................................................................. 142 G. College Sports......................................................................................................... 145 IV. DATA ON EXEMPT SECTOR AND CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS................ 148 V. ADVANTAGES OF TAX-EXEMPT STATUS FOR SECTION 501(C)(3) ORGANIZATIONS AND SUMMARY OF CRS REPORT ......................................... 155 VI. DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS...................................................... 159 VII. APPENDIX..................................................................................................................... 194 ii INTRODUCTION The House Committee on Ways and Means has scheduled a public hearing on April 20, 2005, on “An Overview of the Tax-Exempt Sector.” This document,1 prepared by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides a description of the historical development and present law of the Federal tax exemption for charities and other tax-exempt organizations.2 This document begins with an executive summary. Following the executive summary, Part I of this document provides an overview of organizations exempt from Federal income tax, including statistical information about the sector, reasons for tax exemption, and common tax law features of exempt organizations. Part II describes the history and evolution of the exempt status of organizations described in section 501(c)(3), including a discussion of the meaning of exempt purposes described in section 501(c)(3), the distinction between private foundations and public charities, a general history of the unrelated business income tax, and an overview of related organization structures used by exempt organizations. Part III contains a description of several types of organizations that are described in section 501(c)(3), including a discussion of the change in legal standards over time. Organizations described here are hospitals, elder care facilities, credit counseling organizations, low-income housing organizations, environmental organizations, and college sports organizations. Part IV provides statistical information showing the size and growth of the charitable and exempt sectors. Part V is an overview of tax and nontax benefits of exemption for section 501(c)(3) organizations and a summary of a Congressional Research Service document (included as an Appendix to this pamphlet) that lists the benefits of charitable exemption under Federal and certain State laws. Part VI is a description, including the legislative history, of the many various organizations that may qualify for tax-exempt status. 1 This document may be cited as follows: Joint Committee on Taxation, Historical Development and Present Law of the Federal Tax Exemption for Charities and Other Tax- Exempt Organizations (JCX-29-05), April 19, 2005. 2 Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Overview of Organizations Exempt from Federal Income Tax Size and growth of the exempt sector generally Since the inception of the Federal income tax, the Congress has exempted certain types of entities from income taxation. Many exempt entities, such as charitable organizations, are familiar. Yet charitable organizations are but one type of exempt entity. The benefit of tax exemption is extended to groups as diverse as social welfare organizations, title holding companies, fraternal organizations, small insurance companies, credit unions, cooperative organizations, and cemetery companies. The statistics reported in this document do not include churches, which are not required to file returns with the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), and are not recorded in the IRS Master File of Exempt Organizations. There are now 28 different types of organizations listed in the main exemption section of the Code (section 501), and numerous other exemptions provided elsewhere. The number and financial holdings of these organizations are large and have grown significantly since record- keeping began in 1975. The revenue reported to the IRS by such organizations has increased from approximately $0.3 trillion (in 2001 dollars) in 1975 to about $1.2 trillion in 2001. The 2001 revenue represented approximately 12.2 percent of gross domestic product in that year. The assets reported by the organizations have similarly increased, from approximately $0.5 trillion (in 2001 dollars) in 1975 to almost $2.9 trillion in 2001. While a large majority of exempt entities fall into familiar categories, such as charitable organizations, there are also a fair number of organizations that fall into more obscure categories. Eight categories have fewer than 150 qualifying entities each, with four categories having fewer than five entities each. Size and growth of the charitable sector Charitable organizations described in section 501(c)(3) represent by far the largest category of exempt organizations, comprising about two-thirds of all exempt organizations. The 2004 IRS Master File of Exempt Organizations shows 1,010,365 charitable organizations. In terms of asset size and revenues, the share of charitable organizations in the exempt sector is similar. In 2001, the total revenue of charitable organizations (including private foundations but not including churches and other organizations not required to file) was about 9.3 percent of gross domestic product. Among charitable organizations not including churches, the largest categories of organizations are hospitals and post-secondary educational organizations. In 2001, hospitals held 29 percent of total assets and collected 42 percent of total revenues in the charitable sector. Colleges and universities held 21 percent of the total assets and collected 11 percent of total revenue. There has been significant recent growth in the number and size of charitable organizations. The number of such organizations has increased from 259,523 in 1976 to 1,010,365 in 2004, an increase of 289 percent. The total asset value and revenues (in 2001 2 dollars) reported to the IRS by charitable organizations similarly increased from about $360 billion and $155 billion, respectively, in 1975, to over $2 trillion and about $942 billion, respectively, in 2001. The growth in the number and size of charitable organizations has been accompanied by growth in the amount of charitable deductions. In 1975, the total amount claimed as charitable deductions was about $43.7 billion whereas in 2002, the total was about $145 billion (both numbers in constant 2000 dollars). B. Reasons for Tax Exemption There is no unifying theme or singular principle that explains tax exemption for the many diverse organizations in the exempt sector, although there are some factors that may help to explain the exemption for certain of them. Over the years, Congress has granted tax exemption only to certain types of organizations. As an initial matter, not all “nonprofit” organizations