[ANSTHRLD] Targes and Tangents

[Tim McDaniel]

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007, radei at moscowmail.com <heralds at lists.ansteorra.org> wrote:
> Restricted??  NO PART of a 501-c3 may be barred from public view on
> demand.
...
> I speak from experience as a former office<at all levels, treasurer,
> VP,President,Ect> of several "501-c3"s .  All documents are public
> by law.

I repeat my request: please provide a precise citation of the
applicable law.

<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00000501----000-.html>
appears to be the appropriate statute (26 USC 501), and Part I
contains more restrictions
(<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode26/usc_sup_01_26_10_A_20_1_30_F_40_I.html>).
But I don't see anything about record requirements.

<http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/index.html> is the head of
the official IRS Web pages for charities, including 501(c)3s.  There's
a lot of information there, including Exemption Requirements at
<http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=96099,00.html>
and (under "Life Cycle of a Public Charity")
* Jeopardizing Exemption
   <http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=123299,00.html>
   This prohibits lobbying, inurement, substantial unrelated income,
   and requires annual filing, but not about disclosure.
* Substantiation and Disclosure
   <http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=123211,00.html>
   This is about contributions, not anything else.
* Public Disclosure Requirements
   <http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96430,00.html>
   They require public access only to *tax-related* documents: the
   org's exemption application and annual tax returns.  Also note
       An exempt organization is not required to disclose Schedule K-1
       of Form 1065 or Schedule A of Form 990-BL. With the exception of
       private foundations, an exempt organization is not required to
       disclose the name and address of any contributor to the
       organization.
* Contributors' Identities Not Subject to Disclosure
   Well, except for political orgs above a dollar limit.
   <http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=135015,00.html>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c)> lists some 501(c)3 organization.
It would surprise me if all of their records were publicly visible,
such as treatment records for Planned Parenthood.

I was around for The SCA Milpitas Meltdown of 1994.  The final act was
the 17 named plaintiffs filing for a writ in a California court
demanding access to all books of accounts, which the Board had refused
them access to.  The case went on for several months before the judge
awarded the plaintiffs a slam-dunk judgment (that is, awarding costs
to them).  However, in that time at least two of the plaintiffs had
lost their house due to their share of the expenses.  I expect that if
501(c)3 records were always public, that one of the lawyers would have
pointed out the Federal implications of the Board denying them access,
and that it would have short-circuited the case.  As I recall, the tax
documents were the only ones provided on demand, but I don't have a
citation.

(The SCA By-Laws, Article X, page 6
<http://www.sca.org/docs/govdocs.pdf>, sets record access policies.)

Dannet Lincoln
-- 
Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com