Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: tax exempt status for HOAs

[John Beutler (jabeutler]

I would agree.  I helped get 501c3 status for a federation of food 
cooperatives years ago, but there was no way the individual coops would 
qualify.  But state tax exemptions vary, I'm sure.

Cheers

JAB

At 11:37 AM 8/28/2007 -0700, you wrote:
> --- Ken Lewis <kenlewisjr [at] yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I'm with Nevada City Cohousing in California and
> > last year we owed $5,000 in
> > tax to the state despite our non-profit status. The
> > federal tax was fine,
> > just for interest income, as expected. So, I
> > recently applied for tax exempt
> > status, hoping to avoid that large tax hit.
>
> Hi Ken.
>
> If the government of California deals with the issue
> of nonprofit status in the same way as other states,
> it will likely only recognize nonprofits that are
> officially recognized by the IRS under section
> 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  Those are
> generally charitable, educational or public service
> groups.  See:
>
> http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/article/0,,id=96099,00.html
>
> I've worked with and in the nonprofit world for many
> years, and it seems unlikely to me that a cohousing
> community, as such, would qualify under the Internal
> Revenue Code definitions.  I say that because, from an
> official perspective, we look like real estate
> developments which are privately owned and in which
> the owners can sell their units at a profit.  I
> suppose that it's possible that your state might treat
> you as tax-exempt, but I'd be surprised by that.  You
> might want to check with the office of your state
> treasurer or secretary of state (or an attorney
> knowledgeable about this area of law in CA) about it.
>
> Please note that there is a difference between being
> civic-minded, community-oriented, and environmentally
> aware (which all or most cohousing communities are)
> and being a nonprofit.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Buzz Harris
> Common Hearth Cohousing
> Eastern Massachusetts
>
>
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Buzz Harris
> Writer, activist & political researcher
>
> Interested in Cohousing in Massachusetts?
> http://www.common-hearth.org
>
>
> What used to be called liberal is now called radical,
> What used to be called radical is now called insane,
> What used to be called reactionary is now called moderate, and
> What used to be called insane is now called solid conservative thinking.
>
> -Tony Kushner
>
> http://civic-oracle.livejournal.com/
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________________
> Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who 
> knows. Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.
> http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list&sid=396545469
> _________________________________________________________________
> Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at:
> http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/

John Beutler
Liberty Village, MD
jabeutler [at] comcast.net
http://www.libertyvillage.com/