The IRS is underway with conducting audits of 35 Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt hospitals, with a particular focus on “community benefit,” as the IRS announced in June 2024. Targeted hospitals appear to be those who reported low community benefit percentages on their IRS Form 990.Continue Reading IRS Audits & Ongoing Scrutiny of Nonprofit Hospitals – Key Background & Action Steps
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its Final Rule banning employers from imposing post-employment noncompete requirements on their workers (the “Final Rule”). The FTC has indicated that it will continue to prioritize enforcement in the healthcare industry, with objectives seeming to include alleviating physician shortages and improving access to healthcare. What the Final Rule means for healthcare organizations generally, and for nonprofits in particular, is not entirely clear and is likely to be challenged. Continue Reading What the FTC’s Noncompete Ban Means for Healthcare
In this time of crisis, nonprofits of all shapes and sizes have been scrambling to obtain assistance under the federal CARES Act. Sheppard Mullin’s Nonprofit Team is grateful for the special opportunity to help by partnering with Independent Sector, a prominent national coalition representing the diverse interests of charitable organizations and corporate philanthropy programs across the country whose membership is comprised of more than 400 public charities, private foundation and large corporations involved in philanthropy. We partnered with Independent Sector in developing the following tools to help nonprofits understand and obtain the relief available under the CARES Act:
Continue Reading Answers for Nonprofits Seeking Relief under the CARES Act
Tax-exempt employers have a special opportunity to fix compliance concerns with their 403(b) retirement plans. They have through March 31, 2020 – the “Remedial Amendment Period” (RAP) – to retroactively self-correct compliance issues with their 403(b) plan documents, without going through the IRS’ more costly and time-consuming process that would normally be required. An overview of this opportunity is below.
Continue Reading For Tax-Exempt Employers: 403(b) Retirement Plan Compliance Opportunity
Update. We described in a previous blog post major changes that tax-exempt hospitals and other tax-exempt organizations in the healthcare industry face in the tax reform proposals working their way through Congress. In the early hours of Saturday, December 2, 2017, the Senate narrowly passed its tax reform bill. Although the Senate’s bill has much in common with the bill passed by the House of Representatives, there are significant differences. Accordingly, the House voted yesterday, December 4, 2017, to proceed with a conference committee to reconcile the two bills. A reconciled bill would still need to be approved by both the House and Senate. The Republicans are pushing hard to enact a final bill before year end.
Continue Reading Tax-Exempt Healthcare Organizations Brace for Impact as Senate Tax Reform Bill Passes
As federal tax reform efforts proceed rapidly in both chambers of Congress, tax-exempt hospitals and other tax-exempt healthcare organizations are facing major potential changes. New tax burdens on tax-exempt organizations are among the ways in which the bills would raise revenue to pay for proposed tax cuts for businesses and individuals. Importantly, it is still early in the legislative process, and much may change as Republicans race to have a bill signed into law before the end of the year.
Continue Reading Tax-Exempt Hospitals & Other Tax-Exempt Healthcare Organizations Not Immune from Federal Tax Reform
The IRS recently released a ruling, Private Letter Ruling (“PLR”) 201615022, denying Section 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status to a “commercial” accountable care organization (“ACO”). This is the IRS’ first published guidance regarding a commercial ACO, and the most recent guidance from the IRS regarding the tax-exempt status of ACOs since 2011 when the IRS established that an ACO participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”) can qualify for Section 501(c)(3) status.
Continue Reading IRS Denial of Section 501(c)(3) Status for a Commercial ACO
On July 1, 2014, the New York Nonprofit Revitalization Act (the “Act”) took effect. The Act is the most significant modification of New York’s Not-for-Profit Corporation Law (the “NPCL”) in approximately 40 years.
New York not-for-profit corporations that have not already fully considered actions that are necessary to comply with or to take advantage of the Act should do so now. Continue Reading Top 5 Actions to Consider for the New York Not-for-Profit Law Overhaul Effective on July 1