Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: common house use by outside groups

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Jul 4, 2015, at 8:29 PM, Martha Wagner <wordbizpdx [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I know this topic has been previously discussed, but I'd like some fresh 
> input about policies for making available a community common house for 
> various events like fundraisers for local nonprofit organizations, house 
> concerts, or weddings of friends or family of community members. Can an HOA 
> avoid  taxable income that might be generated by renting the common house by 
> instead offering the space on a donation basis? If this is what your 
> community does, how does your community decide on donation amounts to request 
> and do you use any kind of written agreement?

On the topic of taxes: A financial planner and an administrative vice president 
told me we think wrong about taxes. The taxes are never more than the amount 
you take in. You always end up with more money. Having to pay taxes is good.

The considerations are more in the line of insurance/liability and perhaps a 
change in the kind of tax form you file.

Your accountant should be able to explain this but I advise you to figure out 
an amount you might take in before you ask. Sometimes when you say "rental 
income," accountants immediately begin thinking in terms of tens of thousands 
of dollars when the amount might be $5,000 tops.

On renting: renting space is a lot of work and people expect more when they are 
paying for it. We allow members to use the space with their friends and their 
friends organizations (office retreats, birthday parties, etc.) and the member 
is responsible for supervision. They make a donation to the community.

We also use our CH a lot and renting to unconnected outside groups would cramp 
our style.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org