describe the "organizational and operational tests" as they relate to
non profit organizations.

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Request for Question Clarification by serenata-ga on 27 Apr 2003 19:45 PDT

Hi, Liz ~

Your question is very broad, and it would help to know to what you are
specifically referring.

Are you talking about the "organizational and operational tests" in
order to qualify with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization?
Or are ou referring to something else?

Clarification can help any Google Answers Researcher answer your
question in a better way.

Thanks ever so,
Serenata

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Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 27 Apr 2003 19:53 PDT

Would an answer that gives the IRS's own descriptions of these tests
be satisfactory?  Or are you looking for something else instead, or in
addition?  (You may want to look at the Google Answers pricing
guidelines at: http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html )

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Clarification of Question by liz1116-ga on 28 Apr 2003 07:42 PDT

to qualify as a 501 c(3) charitable organization, the organization
must meet an "organizational" and "operational" test.  explain and
describe these tests.

Hello liz1116-ga,

At the outset, I should emphasize the disclaimer at the bottom of this
page, which notes that answers and comments on Google Answers are
general information, and not substitutes for professional legal or tax
advice.  If you need complete and expert information on tax law, you
should consult a lawyer or professional tax advisor.

Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code refers to organizations
that are "organized and operated exclusively" for certain purposes.

"26 USC Sec. 501" (01/02/01)
U.S. House of Representatives: Office of the Law Revision Counsel
http://uscode.house.gov/uscode-cgi/fastweb.exe?getdoc+uscview+t26t28+430+2++%28%29%20%20AND%20%28%2826%29%20ADJ%20USC%29%3ACITE%20AND%20%28USC%20w%2F10%20%28501%29%29%3ACITE%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20

These are referred to in one IRS publication as the "organizational
and operational tests of section 501(c)(3)."

"Publication 557 - Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization (Revised:
07/2001)- 3. Section 501(c)(3) Organizations" [under heading
"Instrumentalities"]
Internal Revenue Service [Department of the Treasury]
http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/page/0,,id%3D104186,00.html

In the following document, the IRS explains what "organized
exclusively" and "operated exclusively" mean for purposes of Section
501(c)(3).  Rather than summarize this document, I will suggest that
you read it in its entirety.  Having done my taxes recently, my
feeling is that every sentence that the IRS publishes may have some
significance to a particular situation -- and since I don't know your
situation (and am not a tax lawyer or tax advisor as noted above), I
would do you a disservice by condensing it.  Thankfully, this is not
one of the longer IRS documents.

"Charities & Non-Profits - Exemption Requirements" 
Internal Revenue Service [Department of the Treasury]
http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96099,00.html

This document refers to Publication 557.  Pages 17-18 of that
publication go into detail on the organizational test.  The
publication does not elaborate on the operational test or what
"operated exclusively" means under Section 501(c)(3); it appears that
the aforementioned document on "Exemption Requirements" contains the
most IRS information on this test.

"Publication 557 (Rev. July 2001) - Cat. No. 46573C - Tax-Exempt
Status for Your Organization"
Internal Revenue Service [Department of the Treasury]
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p557.pdf

Since you did not specify in your question or clarification whether
you wanted the IRS's description or otherwise, I figured that I should
provide the IRS's description, since it is presumably the most
authoritative.

I hope that this information is helpful.

- justaskscott-ga


Search strategy:

Searched on IRS site for:

"organizational test"
"operational test"
"organized exclusively"
"operated exclusively"
501(c)(3)

Browsed and searched U.S. Code site to find Section 501.

thank you so much!  this information is very helpful.