New IRS Notice Exempts Value of Leave Donated to Charity

IRS notice 2001-69 exempts the value of donated leave time from taxation, as long as the donation occurs before January 1, 2003. This allows for tax-exempt donation of the cash value of leave days by employers, if an employee elects to donate leave time. Employees cannot, however, claim the value of the donated leave time as a charitable deduction. The IRS is seeking comments on this notice until February 1, 2002. Email comments to notice.comments@m1.irscounsel.treas.gov.

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Charities Buried Under CACAA?

On October 2, 2001, Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH) introduced H.R. 2985, the American Spirit Fraud Prevention Act. On the same day, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced S.1484, the Crimes Against Charitable Americans Act.

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"Compassion Capital Fund" May Fund Think Tank

The Senate version of the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations contains money for the Bush Administration's "Compassion Capital Fund," which could grant money to faith-based organizations for service provision. The bill (S. 1536), which is scheduled to be taken up on Tuesday, contains a provision for $89 million for the fund, as well as at least $33 million to be used on other faith-based programs (including "maternity group homes").

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Support Incentives for Charitable Giving in the Economic Stimulus Package

Nonprofits should weigh in on the economic stimulus bill being considered in Congress. It can have a huge impact on the work we do. Take action on this Alert here. OMB Watch believes the stimulus package should include items that create an incentive to spend immediately. It should not be permanent and or be a cover for providing further tax breaks to wealthy individuals or corporations.

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Text of Colloquy Language for Shays-Meehan Bill

Scope of Exception (iv) Definition of Electioneering Communication Q: Exceptions to the definition of “ electioneering communications” are set out in Section 201(8)(B), and include news distributed by broadcast stations that are not owned or controlled by a candidate, independent expenditures, candidate debates and forums and “any other communication exempted under such regulations as the Commission may promulgate…to ensure appropriate implementation of this paragraph.” What is the purpose of the fourth exception?

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IRS Publishes Guidelines for Election Year Activities

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published an updated staff training manual on election year activities by exempt organizations, including 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organizations and political committees exempt under Section 527. The last manual was published in FY 1993. While this Continuing Education Program (CEP) manual cannot be cited as a legal authority, it contains a rich store of information on the law and provides the public with the same guidance used by IRS staff.

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House Bills Would Allow Religious Congregations To Use Funds For Partisan Politics

Just before news of September 11th's tragic events reached Capitol Hill Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) and Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) held a news conference to promote HR 2357, the Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act. It would allow religious congregations to support or oppose candidates for office without losing their tax exemption or ability to receive deductible contributions, as long as election related efforts do not amount to a substantial portion of their overall activities.

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White House Releases Report on Faith-Based and Community Organizations

On August 16, the White House released a report on barriers faith-based and community organizations face in participating in federal social service programs. The report was required by President Bush's January 29 Executive Order creating five federal Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Following up on the release, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life held an event on August 17 with a panel of experts to react to the report. The panel provided a mixed reaction to the White House report, Unlevel Playing Field.

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Competing Campaign Finance Bills Headed To House Floor

The House Administration Committee reported out two campaign finance reform bills on June 28, voting 5-3 along party lines. HR 2356, a new version of a bill sponsored by Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA), was reported unfavorably. It closely follows the provisions of McCain-Feingold, which passed the Senate in March.

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Electronic Publishing

Online Words and Images Think also about what you can do online with words and images than you could even 10 years ago. In some ways online publishing is largely something in which the Web excels at. We can create, store, search for, access, download, and navigate content in a variety of formats (text, HTML, multimedia, database content, executable programs). The Web, however, is more than just a big storage and retrieval and information dissemination mechanism, it is also a content creation environment.

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