REFRESH Five Tax Traps for Business Lawyers Advising Nonprofit Organizations
Navigating Contractor vs. Employee Classification
Insider Transaction Traps for the Unwary
Multijurisdictional Employers, Part 1: Independent Contractors vs. Employees
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 60 - Enforcement Priorities of the Second Trump Administration: Employee Retention Tax Credit
REFRESH Steps for Launching a New Charitable Corporation
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 58 - Enforcement Priorities of the Second Trump Administration: IRS Investigations
Are Overtime Wages and Tips Exempt From Income Tax? What Employers Need to Know to Prepare
Nonprofit Basics: IRS 10-Course Charity Workshop
Nonprofit Basics: Unrelated Business Income Tax: Debt Financed Income - Part 3
The Demystification of Employee Retention Credits for Private Equity Deals — PE Pathways Podcast
Nonprofit Basics: Unrelated Business Income Tax: Modifications and Exceptions - Part 2
Navigating the Inflation Reduction Act: Insights on Brownfield Energy Community Credits - Energy Law Insights
4 Key Takeaways | Analyzing the Top Income Tax Cases in 2024
REFRESH Nonprofit Basics: Year-End Thoughts and New Year To-Do List
What's the Best Transaction Structure for My Sale?
Year-End and Trending Tax Considerations for Health Care Practices
Nonprofit Basics: International Grantmaking – Part 2 Income Tax Withholding Rules
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Tax Relief and Possible Retirement Plan Resources for Hurricane Victims
The Presumption of Innocence Podcast: Episode 44 - A Recipe for Litigation: The Simmering Conflict Surrounding ERC Claims
On July 7, 2025, in National Religious Broadcasters, et al. v. Billy Long, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Services, et al., Docket no: 6:24-cv-00311-JCB (E.D. Texas) (“NRB”), the IRS entered into a consent decree in...more
The Internal Revenue Service has reached a settlement, subject to court approval, that would permit political speech in houses of worship. Background - Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code defines an organization...more
On July 7, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) overturned an over 70-year-old interpretation of the Internal Revenue Code via a federal court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, which now...more
FEC Advisory Opinion Approves Federal Candidate Request to Add Super PAC to Joint Fundraising Committee - In Advisory Opinion 2024-07, the FEC approved a request made by Team Graham, the principal campaign committee of...more
Some scholars say early spiritual practices regularly involved sacraments that elicited psychedelic experiences. See, e.g., Brian C. Muraresku, The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name (2020)....more
IRS Inquiries and Examinations, Generally – Sections 6201 and 7602. Generally, the IRS is authorized and required by 26 U.S.C. § 6201(a) “to make the inquiries, determinations, and assessments of all taxes” imposed by the...more
Churches and religious organizations can both qualify as tax-exempt organizations described in Code Section 501(c)(3). In the case of churches, qualification can be achieved more simply than for a non-church. The allure of...more
On October 23, 2019, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, signed legislation incorporating the federal Johnson Amendment into New York law. As previously described, the Johnson Amendment denies tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3)...more
Approximately 20% of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities usually conduct general revaluations every five years as required by law. Due to a quirk in the schedule, 2019 revaluations will be conducted by only 14 communities. While...more
According to statements made by the acting director of exempt organizations at the IRS, churches and other religious organizations will soon start to receive questions from the IRS about potential liabilities under the...more
Key Cases - Covert Surveillance Due to Religious Identity is Actionable - Government surveillance of individuals due to their religious identity is actionable under federal law. In Fazaga v. Federal Bureau of...more
In Gaylor v. Mnuchin, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a tax code exemption for religious housing of ministers does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution....more
On March 15, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held in Gaylor v. Mnuchin that the tax exemption for “ministers of the gospel” (defined below) under Section 107(2) of the Internal Revenue Code (the...more
Last year, in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that a special type of “church plan,” intended to be exempt from Title I of ERISA and many Internal Revenue Code requirements, does not...more
The IRS has once again confirmed that an employee benefit plan maintained by a church or church-affiliated organization is not subject to ERISA unless the plan sponsor makes an affirmative written election to have ERISA apply...more
On November 2, 2017, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) introduced H.R. 1, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (the “Bill”). At over four hundred pages, the Bill promises substantial changes to the Internal...more
On March 27, 2017, the then 8 Supreme Court Justices heard oral arguments for three consolidated cases regarding the outer bounds of the “church plan” exception under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court has held unanimously that a 1980 amendment to ERISA means that a pension benefit plan need not be established by a church in order to be exempt from ERISA rules, including most...more
In a much-anticipated decision, on June 5 the U.S. Supreme Court held that a pension plan sponsored by a religious affiliated nonprofit hospital qualifies as an ERISA-exempt church plan even though the plan was not initially...more
While speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 2, 2017, President Trump reaffirmed his commitment to repeal the law that restricts organizations that are tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in three Church Plan cases presents the possibility that many Church Plans thought for years to be exempt from ERISA rules, including its funding rules, will now have...more
When was the last time your organization reviewed your insurance policies? Not all policies are equal. Many religious organizations are underinsured. Most should have general liability, property, professional liability,...more
Religiously affiliated hospitals and health systems have recently come under attack by private litigants for exercising the right to remain exempt from ERISA requirements. Such hospitals and health systems should assess their...more
Timely Topics - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued on Dec. 17, 2015, a memorandum instructing its examiners not to conduct employment tax audits of churches without getting in touch with a high-ranking Treasury...more
Editor's Overview - In this month's Newsletter, Robert Rachal discusses recent "church plan" rulings where some federal judges have declined to give deference to long-standing, consistent guidance from the Internal...more