no author
May 12, 2005

Definition of IRS 501(c)(4) status

501(c)(4) organizations ARE tax-exempt like 501(c)(3) organizations, but donations to them CANNOT be written off taxable incomes, and they ARE allowed to engage in politicaly activity, but it cannot be their primary activity.

An example of 501(c)(4) denial:

The Christian Coalition denied 501(c)(4) status

501(c)(4) organizations can participate in partisan politics as a secondary activity. Their primary activity must be pursuit of their social welfare goals. The Christian Coalition apparently failed to establish that its partisan election activity was secondary. On June 10th the St. Petersburg Times quoted University of Miami law professor Frances Hill as saying the ruling "...is suggesting that the real activities were in substantial part to influence the outcome of elections." The Coalition has distributed millions of guides through a network of 100,000 churches. The guides address a limited set of issues with what has been described as simplistic" characterizations of candidate positions.