AG, lawmakers team up to reform nonprofits

AG, lawmakers team up to reform nonprofits: Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joined forces with members of the state Legislature in the hopes of passing two bills that would drastically reform New York's not-for-profit sector.

Welsh government opens voluntary sector consultation

Welsh government opens voluntary sector consultation: The Welsh government has opened a consultation on its relationship with the voluntary sector and is looking for views on how it can work in partnership with the sector.

Earlier this year, the Welsh government announced it was reviewing its funding of the voluntary sector. It plans to revise its three key policy documents for working with the sector when the consultation has been completed.

IRS Should Allow Social-Welfare Groups Unlimited Advocacy - Leslie Lenkowsky - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

IRS Should Allow Social-Welfare Groups Unlimited Advocacy - Leslie Lenkowsky - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: But the inspector general’s report also teaches another kind of lesson, this one about the inherent difficulty in trying to regulate an increasingly attractive activity that is impossible to define clearly.

The solution might be simply to stop trying to impose limits on advocacy by any tax-exempt groups except charities.

Nonprofits Face Up to Tighter Compliance - Risk & Compliance - WSJ

Nonprofits Face Up to Tighter Compliance - Risk & Compliance - WSJ: If nonprofit organizations weren’t convinced of the value of having strong compliance programs, recent events should reinforce the need for them to take action.

Charitable Giving Coalition Urges Congress to Leave Charitable Deduction Intact | Planned Giving Design Center

Charitable Giving Coalition Urges Congress to Leave Charitable Deduction Intact | Planned Giving Design Center: The Charitable Giving Coalition has sent a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp, R-MI., and ranking minority member Sander M. Levin, D-MI., in which it urges Congress to protect the charitable tax deduction as it currently stands.

IRS Issues Final Report on Colleges and Universities Compliance Project | Planned Giving Design Center

IRS Issues Final Report on Colleges and Universities Compliance Project | Planned Giving Design Center: The Internal Revenue Service launched its Colleges and Universities Compliance Project (CUCP) in 2008 when it distributed detailed questionnaires to 400 colleges and universities, requiring comprehensive reporting by those institutions on financial results of business activities such as alumni travel programs and facilities rentals not directly related to higher education. In this article, attorney David Wheeler Newman reviews the findings of the IRS' final report.

How Nonprofits Became Tax-Exempt - Bloomberg

How Nonprofits Became Tax-Exempt - Bloomberg: To create these institutions, early Americans adapted corporate laws from Britain. At first, incorporation required both for-profit and nonprofit organizations to obtain a charter from state governments. Charters were special laws passed by state legislatures and signed by governors under the rules of state constitutions.

Ministry of Justice rejects proposals to regulate will-writing

Ministry of Justice rejects proposals to regulate will-writing: The government has rejected the Legal Services Board’s recommendation that will-writing should be regulated - an announcement which has been branded "extremely disappointing" by Remember a Charity.

After a two-year investigation, the Board submitted its final decision on the regulation of will-writing, estate administration and probate activities in February. It recommended that the Legal Services Act 2007 be amended to include regulation of will-writing but not to include regulation of estate administration or probate services.

N.Y. to Consider Nonprofit Governance Overhaul - Government - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

N.Y. to Consider Nonprofit Governance Overhaul - Government - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: N.Y. to Consider Nonprofit Governance Overhaul

By Doug Donovan

New York State lawmakers introduced legislation on Tuesday designed to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles for starting a nonprofit and improve board oversight of executive compensation and contracts that could involve sweetheart deals.

The two bills—the Nonprofit Revitalization Act and the Executive Compensation Reform Act—were introduced after a year of work led by the New York attorney general’s office.

Nonprofit exec pay examined � Local News � The Tribune Democrat, Johnstown, PA

Nonprofit exec pay examined � Local News � The Tribune Democrat, Johnstown, PA: Compensation for executives with nonprofits that provide state services has come under increased scrutiny as social agencies complain that the state is cutting funding. Lawmakers last year commissioned a study to determine what kind of compensation was given to nonprofit executives.

Ways and Means Committee Working Groups Report—Not Much There - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly

Ways and Means Committee Working Groups Report—Not Much There - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly: On February 13, 2013, just before an all-day hearing convened by the House Ways and Means Committee to rile up the entire nonprofit sector that the charitable deduction was in jeopardy, Committee chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) announced the creation of 11 working groups of committee members to examine issues connected to federal tax reform. The 568-page report issued by the task force, written by the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, includes a section on tax reform issues related to charities—the charitable deduction and more. We thought there might be specific recommendations coming from the task forces, conclusions about keeping the deduction as it is or capping it at President Obama’s 28 percent level or any of a number of alternatives. At least in this telephone book-sized document, it doesn’t appear that the task forces reached a specific conclusion about charities—or any conclusions at all.

Pa. Ends Hershey Trust Inquiry and Orders Governance Changes - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas

Pa. Ends Hershey Trust Inquiry and Orders Governance Changes - Philanthropy Today - The Chronicle of Philanthropy- Connecting the nonprofit world with news, jobs, and ideas: Pennsylvania’s attorney general and the Hershey Trust announced a settlement Wednesday that ends a two-year state investigation of the $10-billion charity’s financial and property moves, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The deal with Attorney General Kathleen Kane imposes lower compensation and tighter board governance of the charity, which was founded in 1909 by chocolate magnate Milton S. Hershey and his wife, Catherine. The trust operates a free private school for orphans and poor children.

Taxation Committee Releases List of Reform Proposals for Charities, Philanthropy - Press - AFP

Taxation Committee Releases List of Reform Proposals for Charities, Philanthropy - Press - AFP: Taxation Committee Releases List of Reform Proposals for Charities, Philanthropy

The IRA Rollover, the non-itemizer deduction and the conversion of the charitable deduction into a tax credit are just some of the proposals included in the Joint Committee on Taxation’s report on the House Ways and Means Committee’s Tax Reform Working Groups.

Joint registration for HMRC and Charity Commission is getting closer, suggests Hodgson

Joint registration for HMRC and Charity Commission is getting closer, suggests Hodgson: The prospect of a single charity registration process for both HMRC and the Charity Commission is not far off, Charities Act reviewer Lord Hodgson hinted to a conference audience yesterday.

Taxation Committee Releases List of Reform Proposals for Charities, Philanthropy - Press - AFP

Taxation Committee Releases List of Reform Proposals for Charities, Philanthropy - Press - AFP: Taxation Committee Releases List of Reform Proposals for Charities, Philanthropy

The IRA Rollover, the non-itemizer deduction and the conversion of the charitable deduction into a tax credit are just some of the proposals included in the Joint Committee on Taxation’s report on the House Ways and Means Committee’s Tax Reform Working Groups.