Really? No charitable organization pays employees or sometimes cover some of their expenses? Jim

jr--I had the same thought. I can't wait to her the answer to this one.

If a donor wants to give money to the organization, doesn't he/she get to write off the donation on his IRS report?

Couldn't the $100,000 donation to the handicap winner at the Grand qualify for this provision and get the donor a tax credit?

In the interests of brevity, I didn't mention the obvious. Reasonable compensation paid for services actually performed and re-imbursement for legitimate expenses can be paid to anybody. That wasn't the issue here. The question about the $ 100,000, I can see a problem on both ends. If the money is earmarked for the prize, that could preclude the charitable deduction. If the money is for the general fund, but used for the prize, that could be considered an improper payment by the ATA. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. In any event the IRS gets their tax from the guy who wins the money.

There are two IRS issues. #1 - If in years past, the ATA "gave" a gun away without issuing a 1099 to the recipient, they were wrong (and if the recipient did not declare it - they were wrong too).

#2 - If the IRS decides that your charitible org is having too much fun - they take the 3C designation away and then the ATA would have to revert to it's old C7 status (social org) and have to file and pay taxes on all non-business related income. We might be headed that direction anyway. Anyone know how much gets spent toward the charitable goals versus how much money is taken in?

It's not like the ATA gets federal or public funds, give me a break...