IRS revokes a dormant Type I supporting organization's 501(c)(3) exemption for years of no exempt activity

Plain-English summary

A charity that had been recognized as a Type I supporting organization under IRC
Section 501(c)(3) lost its exemption because it stopped doing anything. To keep
501(c)(3) status, an organization must actually operate for exempt purposes, not
merely exist on paper. The IRS examined the group's return and found no revenue,
no expenses, and no exempt-purpose activity for the year under review or for
several surrounding years; the organization had distributed its assets and was
winding down. Because an inactive organization fails the operational test, and
the evidence showed it would not resume exempt operations, the IRS revoked its
exemption. Once revocation is final, contributions to the organization are no
longer deductible under Section 170, and it may have to file federal income tax
returns.

Ruling snapshot

• Question: Does an inactive Type I supporting organization continue to qualify under IRC § 501(c)(3)?
• Outcome: Revocation (proposed, via Letter 3618 and Form 886-A; final adverse determination via Letter 6337)
• Key authorities: IRC § 501(c)(3); Treas. Reg. § 1.501(c)(3)-1(c); Treas. Reg. § 1.509(a)-4(g); B.S.W. Group, Inc. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 352 (1978); Rev. Rul. 72-369; Rev. Proc. 90-27; Rev. Proc. 84-46

Full text (IRS public release)

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Tax Exempt and Government Entities

Date:
Taxpayer ID number (last 4 digits):
Number: 202318019
Release Date: 5/5/2023
Tax periods ended:

Person to contact:
Name:
ID number:
Telephone:
Fax:

Last day to file petition with United States Tax Court:

Form:
UIL: 501.03-00

CERTIFIED MAIL - Return Receipt Requested

Dear :

Why we are sending you this letter

This is a final determination that you don't qualify for exemption from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(a) as an organization described in IRC Section 501(c)(3), effective . Your determination letter dated , is revoked.

Our adverse determination as to your exempt status was made for the following reasons: Organizations described in IRC Section 501(c)(3) and exempt under IRC Section 501(a) must be both organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes. You have not demonstrated that you are organized exclusively for charitable, educational, or other exempt purposes within the meaning of IRC Section 501(c)(3).

Organizations that are not exempt under IRC Section 501 generally are required to file federal income tax returns and pay tax, where applicable. For further instructions, forms and information please visit IRS.gov.

Contributions to your organization are no longer deductible under IRC Section 170.

What you must do if you disagree with this determination

If you want to contest our final determination, you have 90 days from the date this determination letter was mailed to you to file a petition or complaint in one of the three federal courts listed below.

How to file your action for declaratory judgment

If you decide to contest this determination, you can file an action for declaratory judgment under the provisions of Section 7428 of the Code in either:

• The United States Tax Court,
• The United States Court of Federal Claims, or
• The United States District Court for the District of Columbia

You must file a petition or complaint in one of these three courts within 90 days from the date we mailed this determination letter to you. You can download a fillable petition or complaint form and get information about filing at each respective court's website listed below or by contacting the Office of the Clerk of the Court at one of the addresses below. Be sure to include a copy of this letter and any attachments and the applicable filing fee with the petition or complaint.

Letter 6337 (Rev. 8-2022)
Catalog Number 74808E

You can eFile your completed U.S. Tax Court petition by following the instructions and user guides available on the Tax Court website at ustaxcourt.gov/dawson.html. You will need to register for a DAWSON account to do so. You may also file your petition at the address below:

United States Tax Court
400 Second Street, NW
Washington, DC 20217
ustaxcourt.gov

The websites of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia contain instructions about how to file your completed complaint electronically. You may also file your complaint at one of the addresses below:

US Court of Federal Claims
717 Madison Place, NW
Washington, DC 20439
uscfc.uscourts.gov

US District Court for the District of Columbia
333 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
dcd.uscourts.gov

Processing of income tax returns and assessments of any taxes due will not be delayed if you file a petition for declaratory judgment under IRC Section 7428.

Information about the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service

The IRS office whose phone number appears at the top of the notice can best address and access your tax information and help get you answers. However, you may be eligible for free help from the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) if you can't resolve your tax problem with the IRS, or you believe an IRS procedure just isn't working as it should. TAS is an independent organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers and protects taxpayer rights. Contact your local Taxpayer Advocate Office at:

Internal Revenue Service
Taxpayer Advocate Office

Or call TAS at 877-777-4778. For more information about TAS and your rights under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, go to taxpayeradvocate.IRS.gov. Do not send your federal court pleading to the TAS address listed above. Use the applicable federal court address provided earlier in the letter. Contacting TAS does not extend the time to file an action for declaratory judgment.

Where you can find more information

Enclosed are Publication 1, Your Rights as a Taxpayer, and Publication 594, The IRS Collection Process, for more comprehensive information.

Find tax forms or publications by visiting IRS.gov/forms or calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676). If you have questions, you can call the person shown at the top of this letter.

If you prefer to write, use the address shown at the top of this letter. Include your telephone number, the best time to call, and a copy of this letter.

You may fax your documents to the fax number shown above, using either a fax machine or online fax service. Protect yourself when sending digital data by understanding the fax service's privacy and security policies.

Keep the original letter for your records.

[signature illegible]

Acting Director, Exempt Organizations Examinations

Enclosures:
Publication 1
Publication 594
Publication 892

cc:

Letter 6337 (Rev. 8-2022)
Catalog Number 74808E

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
IRS
Tax Exempt and Government Entities

Date: 05/05/2022
Taxpayer ID number:
Form:
Tax periods ended:

Person to contact:
Name:
ID number:
Telephone:
Fax:
Address:

Manager's contact information:
Name:
ID number:
Telephone:

Response due date:

CERTIFIED MAIL - Return Receipt Requested

Dear

Why you're receiving this letter

If you agree

If you haven't already, please sign the enclosed Form 6018, Consent to Proposed Action, and return it to the contact person shown at the top of this letter. We'll issue a final adverse letter determining that you aren't an organization described in IRC Section 501(c)(3) for the periods above.

If you disagree

1. Request a meeting or telephone conference with the manager shown at the top of this letter.
2. Send any information you want us to consider.
3. File a protest with the IRS Appeals Office. If you request a meeting with the manager or send additional information as stated in 1 and 2, above, you'll still be able to file a protest with IRS Appeals Office after the meeting or after we consider the information.

The IRS Appeals Office is independent of the Exempt Organizations division and resolves most disputes informally. If you file a protest, the auditing agent may ask you to sign a consent to extend the period of limitations for assessing tax. This is to allow the IRS Appeals Office enough time to consider your case. For your protest to be valid, it must contain certain specific information, including a statement of the facts, applicable law, and arguments in support of your position. For specific information needed for a valid protest, refer to Publication 892, How to Appeal an IRS Determination on Tax-Exempt Status.

Fast Track Mediation (FTM) referred to in Publication 3498, The Examination Process, generally doesn't apply now that we've issued this letter.

4. Request technical advice from the Office of Associate Chief Counsel (Tax Exempt Government Entities) if you feel the issue hasn't been addressed in published precedent or has been treated inconsistently by the IRS.

If you're considering requesting technical advice, contact the person shown at the top of this letter. If you disagree with the technical advice decision, you will be able to appeal to the IRS Appeals Office, as explained above. A decision made in a technical advice memorandum, however, generally is final and binding on Appeals.

If we don't hear from you

If you don't respond to this proposal within 30 calendar days from the date of this letter, we'll issue a final adverse determination letter.

Contacting the Taxpayer Advocate Office is a taxpayer right

The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) is an independent organization within the IRS that can help protect your taxpayer rights. TAS can offer you help if your tax problem is causing a hardship, or you've tried but haven't been able to resolve your problem with the IRS. If you qualify for TAS assistance, which is always free, TAS will do everything possible to help you. Visit www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov or call 877-777-4778.

Additional information

You can get any of the forms and publications mentioned in this letter by visiting our website at www.irs.gov/forms-pubs or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676). If you have questions, you can contact the person shown at the top of this letter.

Sincerely,

Lynn A. Brinkley
Acting Director, Exempt Organizations Examinations

Enclosures:
Form 886-A
Form 6018
Publication 892
Publication 3498

Letter 3618 (Rev. 8-2019)
Catalog Number 34809F

Form 886-A (Rev. January 1994)
EXPLANATIONS OF ITEMS

Name of taxpayer:
Tax Identification Number:
Year/Period ended:

ISSUE

Whether , located in continues to qualify for exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code?

FACTS

• The EO was granted tax-exempt status in under Internal Revenue Code Section (IRC or Code) Section § 501(a) as an organization described in § 501(c)(3). This is a 501(c)(3), type I supporting organization. According to its amended by-laws, the purposes of the EO are as follows.

The Corporation is organized for the sole purpose of supporting and furthering the charitable purposes of (the " "). The Corporation shall be entitled, without limitation, to take or forbear from all actions reasonably and lawfully necessary, proper, suitable or convenient for the achievement of its purpose or for the furtherance of said purpose.

• The organization filed Form for the year ended on . The return doesn't have any revenues and expenses. The EO distributed all assets to as per the dissolution clause. The organization attached required Schedule N with the return. However, the organization did not file the final return.

• POA provided bank statements showing the ending balances in total $ , but the return shows the organization transferred $ . As per the POA the finance department did not reconcile correctly and reported the wrong amount on the return. However, the recipient's bank statement verifies that it received $ . The POA described that the EO stopped operating perhaps from . The EO is planning to file the final return for the period ending and will be dissolving the entity.

• The EO did not operate in the tax year , prior and the subsequent years. The EO did not have any operational and financial activities for several years.

LAW

• IRC § 501(c)(3) exempts from Federal income tax corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation and which does not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of statements), any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

• As per Treas. Reg. 1.509(a)-4(g) a type I organization must meet the relationship test and should be operated, supervised or controlled by the supported organization. To qualify under IRC Section 509(a)(3), all organizations must meet the organizational test, operational test, control test and relationship test.

• Treasury Regulation § 1.501(c)(3)-1(a)(1) states, "in order to be exempt as an organization described in section 501(c)(3), an organization must be both organized and operated exclusively for one or more of the purposes specified in such section. If an organization fails to meet either the organizational test or the operational test, it is not exempt."

• Inactive operations or financial activities fail to meet the operational requirements for continued exemption under IRC 501(c)(3). (Treasury Regulation 1.501(c)(3)-1(c))

• In B.S.W. Group, Inc. v. Commissioner, 70 T.C. 352 (1978), the courts ruled the organization did not qualify for exemption under IRC section 501(c)(3) because it was not operated exclusively for charitable, educational, or scientific purposes.

• Revenue Ruling 72-369 states, in part, that in order for an organization to pass the operational test, the organization's resources must be devoted to purposes that qualify as exclusively charitable.

• Rev. Proc. 90-27, 1990-1 C.B. 514, (April 30, 1990) states that a ruling or determination letter recognizing exemption may be revoked or modified by (1) a notice to the taxpayer to whom the ruling or determination letter originally was issued, (2) enactment of legislation or ratification of a tax treaty, (3) a decision of the United States Supreme Court, (4) issuance of temporary or final regulations, or (5) issuance of a revenue ruling, revenue procedure, or other statement published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin. The revocation or modification may be retroactive if the organization omitted or misstated a material fact, operated in a manner materially different from that originally represented, or, in the case of organizations to which section 503 applies, engaged in a prohibited transaction with the purpose of diverting corpus or income of the organization from its exempt purpose and such transaction involved a substantial part of the corpus or income of such organization. Where there is a material change, inconsistent with exemption, in the character, the purpose, or the method of operation of an organization, revocation or modification will ordinarily take effect as of the date of such material change. In cases where a ruling or determination letter was issued in error or is no longer in accord with the holding of the Service, when section 7805(b) relief is granted (see sections 15 and 18 of Rev. Proc. 90-4), retroactivity of the revocation or modification ordinarily will be limited to a date not earlier than that on which the original ruling or determination letter is modified or revoked.

• Rev. Proc. 84-46, 1984-1 C.B. 541. States that if evidence clearly indicates that the organization never will resume operating for an exempt purpose, as required by 1.501(c)(3)-1(c)(1), its exempt status should be revoked.

GOVERNMENT'S POSITION

Failure to Meet the Operational Test

The EO has failed to show us that they meet the operational test for a § 501(c)(3) organization for the year under examination. In order to meet the operational test, they must show that they engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of such exempt purposes specified in section § 501(c)(3).

As evidence of their failure to operate for exempt purposes, we reviewed the Form and found no support for exempt operations. The filed Form shows no revenues and expenses. The listed officer was not engaged with any exempt purpose activities since it did not spend any time for the EO. The subsequent year return also does not show any exempt activities. The year return shows no financial activities, but officer spent per week for the organization. Clearly, they have not been performing exempt purpose activities for the current and subsequent years. A little exempt purpose activities or no exempt purpose activities done for the year. Accordingly, we are proposing revocation because they do not operate for exempt purposes.

TAXPAYER'S POSITION

The taxpayer's position is unknown at this time.

CONCLUSION

We have determined that the EO is not operating for exempt purposes as a §501(c)(3) organization. The EO has no operational and financial activities for more than three years. Accordingly, since the organization failed to operate for exempt purpose, we are proposing revocation of their tax-exempt status, effective .

Form 886-A (1-1994)
Catalog Number 20810W