On 1/2/06, Sam Korn smoddy@gmail.com wrote:
On 1/2/06, Anthony DiPierro wikilegal@inbox.org wrote:
The excise taxes on running a non-profit organization as a for-profit corporation go up to 200% if you don't eventually correct the situation. Yes, 200%, that means if you make $100 in net profits you owe $200 in taxes. You're much better off dissolving the non-profit and forming a for-profit corporation than running a non-profit as a for-profit :).
That's, um, startling. However, I actually meant the WMF just getting rid of its tax-exempt status.
I'm not sure it's possible do that. What would the WMF do with all its assets (domain names and servers being the most valuable ones)? The govt would probably want them to transfer it all to a charity organization. Maybe it's possible to do it retroactively, and just pay penalties and interest on all the previous deductions. Of course then you'd be left with a strange non-profit organization that isn't tax exempt in any way whatsoever. I have to say I have absolutely no idea how that'd work.
This is, of course, ***purely hypothetical speculation***. I don't see any reason the WMF would *want* to lose its tax-exempt status. See the paragraph below...
Of course in reality what would happen far before any of that took place is that the WMF could form a for-profit company which would pay taxes and would be owned by the non-profit. That's how the IRS wants you to do things, in essence it's how they force you to do things.
Obey the US federal government, I shall.
-- Sam