State Enforcement Efforts and Federal Charitable Contribution Cases

One helpful service that government agencies can provide is issuing reports summarizing their activities, saving researchers and practitioners the work of gathering such information piecemeal based on reviewing every pronouncement and ruling that is issued. Two recently issued summaries relating to nonprofit law are particularly helpful in this regard, one relating to state enforcement efforts and the other to federal charitable contribution deduction disputes.

First, the National Association of State Charity Officials (NASCO) has issued a report detailing the activities of state officials with respect to charities from January 2019 to March 2020. From the introduction:

The contents of this report are a representative sample of cases and other initiatives from January 2019 to March 2020 in the areas of: I. Deceptive Solicitation; II. Governance and Breach of Fiduciary Duties; III. Trust & Estate Issues; IV. Health Care; and V. Other, including Registration, Legislation, and Guidance. Descriptions were provided by the relevant state, and questions regarding particular cases should be directed to that state. Contact information for state regulators can be found at www.nasconet.org.

Second, the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service has released an internal memorandum (CCA 202020002) that summarizes the issues and holdings in 121 federal court decisions from 2012 through mid-April 2020 relating to the charitable contribution deduction under Internal Revenue Code Section 170.

Lloyd Mayer