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Proskauer’s 22nd Annual Trick or Treat Seminar was held on Tuesday, October 31.

The Seminar discussed:

  • New Rules for Tax-Exempt Bond Compliance
  • The Excess Benefit Transaction Rules
  • Hot Topics in Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation for Tax-Exempt Organizations
  • Partnership Audit Rules: Considerations for Tax-Exempt Investors

Amanda Nussbaum welcomed everyone to the 22nd Annual Trick or Treat Seminar, briefly discussed the impact of tax reform on tax exempt organizations, and introduced the presenters.

Proskauer’s 21st Annual Trick or Treat Seminar was held on Thursday, October 27.

The Seminar discussed:

  • Best Practices for Document Retention: One Size Does Not Fit All
  • An Overview of Unrelated Business Taxable Income
  • New Department of Labor Fiduciary Regulations: The Employer Perspective
  • Annual Update on Employee Benefits and the Affordable Care Act

Amanda Nussbaum welcomed everyone to the 21st Annual Trick or Treat Seminar, commented on the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities FY 2017 Work Plan and FY 2016 compliance results (including, examinations and revocations), and introduced the presenters.

Proskauer’s 20th Annual Trick or Treat Seminar was held on Friday, October 30.

The Seminar discussed:

  • Non-Profit Revitalization Act of 2013: Recent Developments and Outstanding Issues
  • Recent Developments in Independent Contractor Misclassification
  • Purpose Investing for Charities
  • Benefits Update

Amanda Nussbaum welcomed everyone to the 20th Annual Trick or Treat Seminar, commented on some of the trends in nonprofit law over the last twenty years, and introduced the presenters.

In April, the New York State Attorney General’s office released guidance addressing key provisions of the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law.   For in-depth analysis of the Attorney General’s guidance, click here for an article by Proskauer attorneys Roger Cohen and Ellen Moskowitz.  For this blog’s coverage of the New York…

Proskauer’s 19th Annual Trick or Treat Seminar was held on Friday, October 31.

The Seminar discussed:

  • Charitable giving techniques
  • Labor and employment issues with using volunteers and interns
  • Recent developments in employee benefits

In her introductory remarks, Amanda Nussbaum discussed recent tax developments, including the development of IRS Form 1023-EZ, the process for reinstatement of tax-exempt status, and the proposed regulations under Section 501(c)(4), and introduced the presenters.

A New York court has held that the State’s regulatory limits on executive compensation and administrative expenses for entities that receive state funds unconstitutionally exceed proper regulatory authority.  The regulations, which implemented a 2012 executive order by Governor Andrew Cuomo and went into effect on July 1 of last year, were promulgated in substantially similar form by thirteen different New York State agencies.  Although other plaintiffs have challenged the regulations, this is the first time a court has held that they are unconstitutional.

On April 9, in Agencies for Children’s Therapy Services, Inc. v. New York Department of Health, the Nassau County Supreme Court held that the Department of Health (“DOH”) “strayed from the administrative into the legislative field” in promulgating the regulations, which, among other things, prohibit the use of more than $199,000 in State funding to compensate certain executives and employees of entities that receive at least 30 percent of their overall in-state revenues from the State.  Using the factors identified in the New York Court of Appeals’ holding in Boreali v. Axelrod, 71 N.Y.2d 1 (1987), to determine whether DOH “had usurped the role of the legislature in making public policy assessments,” the Supreme Court concluded that:

Under the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law (“NPCL”) it is relatively clear that (i) any committee with corporate authority must be comprised only of trustees, and (ii) committees must be appointed by the board, and not, for example, by the chair (other than special committees).  (The foregoing may not apply if otherwise provided by the certificate of incorporation.)

The NPCL currently distinguishes between (i) the executive committee and other standing committees, on one hand, and (ii) special committees, on the other hand.

Executive and standing committees must be appointed by a majority of the entire board pursuant to Section 712(a) which provides, in part, that “the board, by resolution adopted by a majority of the entire board, may designate from among its members an executive committee and other standing committees, each consisting of three or more directors, and each of which, to the extent provided in the resolution . . . shall have all the authority of the board, except . . . .”  (Emphasis added.)

The New York Non-Profit Revitalization Act of 2013 (the “Act”), which was passed by the New York State legislature in June, was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo last week. The Act seeks to modernize the New York Not-For-Profit Corporation Law (the “NPCL”), and is the first major overhaul of the NPCL in four decades.

The Act goes into effect on July 1, 2014.

Details of some of the changes to the NPCL include:

• In a critically important victory for common-sense corporate governance, notices and consents under the NPCL may be sent via e-mail and fax.

• Instead of defining not-for-profit corporations as Type A, B, C, or D (a classification system that has bedeviled New York lawyers for years), such entities will be simply “charitable” or “non-charitable.” Former Type-A corporations will be non-charitable, while all others will be charitable. Charitable purposes are defined as “charitable, educational, religious, scientific, literary, cultural or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.”

• The New York Executive Law requires submission of audit reports to the Attorney General for entities registered to solicit and collect funds for charitable purposes. The new law raises the gross revenue thresholds for such audits over time. Starting on July 1, 2014, certified audits will be required for those entities with revenue and support in excess of $500,000. The threshold will be raised to $750,000 as of July 1, 2017 and $1 million as of July 1, 2021.

Proskauer’s 18th Annual Trick or Treat Seminar was held on Thursday, October 31.

The Seminar discussed:

  • Statutory Authority of New York Attorney General’s Charities Bureau
  • Proposed Revisions to New York’s’ Not-for-Profit Corporation Law
  • Impact of United States v. Windsor on Health Insurance and Retirement Plans and Key Provisions of the Affordable Care Act

In her introductory remarks, Amanda Nussbaum provided a summary of recent Internal Revenue Service developments and introduced the presenters.