executive compensation

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On January 19, 2021 the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published in the Federal Register Final Regulations (the “Final Regulations”) interpreting the excise tax under Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code on certain executive compensation paid by…

Proposed Regulations under Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code provide important guidance for tax-exempt organizations and their affiliates regarding an excise tax on certain executive compensation.  The U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) are accepting comments until August 10, 2020.  (Throughout this post, “Sections” refer to sections of the Internal Revenue Code.)

As a refresher, Section 4960 was enacted as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “TCJA”).  Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, Section 4960 imposes an excise tax at the corporate tax rate (currently at 21%) on certain remuneration in excess of $1 million and on certain separation pay (“excess parachute payments”).  The excise tax falls on “applicable tax-exempt entities” (“ATEOs”) and related organizations.  It is intended to have the same economic effect as a for-profit corporation losing a tax deduction.

The Proposed Regulations are generally consistent with the IRS’s interim guidance under Notice 2019-09 (the “Notice”), which is discussed here and here.  But the Proposed Regulations elaborate on certain points and include some helpful changes in response to comments.

If finalized, the Proposed Regulations will apply for tax years beginning on or after the final regulations are published in the Federal Register.  Until then, tax-exempt organizations may apply a “reasonable, good faith” interpretation of the statute.  For this purpose, tax-exempt organizations may rely on the Proposed Regulations or the Notice.  Although the Proposed Regulations are not binding, they include a list of positions that the IRS considers to be an unreasonable interpretation of the statute.

As we have previously discussed, the 2017 tax reform act created a new excise tax under section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code that will affect many tax-exempt employers.  The tax is 21% of certain compensation and can be triggered if an employee receives more than $1 million of…

On December 31, 2018, the Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) and the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released Notice 2019-09 (the “Notice”), which provides interim guidance under Section 4960 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Very generally, Section 4960 imposes a 21% excise tax on certain tax-exempt entities (and certain related…

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:

The IRS released its Final Report on its five year study of the audit results of colleges and universities.  Lois G. Lerner, Director of the Exempt Organizations division of the IRS announced the “long awaited” posting of the report.

In 2008, the IRS sent a 33 page questionnaire to 400 randomly selected colleges and universities.  In 2010, the IRS released an Interim Report.  Following review of the responses and Forms 990 and 990-T, the IRS selected 34 schools for audit.  The audits were limited to two specific areas, unrelated business income tax (UBIT) and executive compensation.

The Final report was released on April 25, 2013.  The IRS points out that because the 34 organizations that were audited were not randomly selected, the schools do not represent a statistical sample.