[WikiEN-l] Announcing Wikimedia Foundation

[Alex T.]

I had previously suggested that legal advice (or at least
a not-for-profit accountant) should be obtained for
filing the 1023 for 501(c)(3) status. I would also like
to point out (as I have before on Meta Wikipedia)
that it is not necessary to file if the organization's donations
are under $5,000.  Thus if you wish to announce donations
you can accept them if they are under a certain amount.
I would also urge you to look into filing with the necessary
state authorities regarding charitable contributions some states
have made these rules rather tough.

There is also a grace period for filing the 1023 
that can be extended for a variety of reasons. I cannot
stress to much that seeking legal advice (even pro bono which is what
I offered and no one has taken me up on) is a good thing
as MANY groups are refused tax exempt status due to the
fact that they have not checked the various IRS rulings and
have drafted a corporate charter/certificates without the proper
exempt purposes or correct recitials regarding termination
transfers, etc..  I am working on a church case right now where
a church was denied 501(c)(3) status.
(No, the US Consitution does not  protect religions from everything).
This is a complex and complicated area of tax law.

Sincerely,
Alex T. Roshuk
Attorney at law
325 8th St
Brooklyn NY 11215-3313 USA
+1(718)788-6696
fax:+1(718)788-2791
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jimmy Wales" <jwales at bomis.com>
To: <wikien-l at wikipedia.org>
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 12:44 PM
Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Announcing Wikimedia Foundation


> cprompt wrote:
> > >I'm pleased to announce the existence of the Wikimedia Foundation,
> > >Inc., a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of Florida,
> > >United States.  
> > >
> > Woohoo! I didn't expect to see this kind of message for a while. :-D
> 
> Well, thanks really go to Erik, who called me on the phone about it
> this morning.  That call kicked my butt to investigate the holdup,
> only to find that there was no holdup, and everything is ready to
> proceed.
> 
> Now I'm looking in fear at this huge 43 page IRS document I have
> to fill out.  (Form 1023)
> _______________________________________________
> WikiEN-l mailing list
> WikiEN-l at wikipedia.org
> http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
>