
Tax-Exempt Organizations
Hodgson Russ has extensive experience working with tax-exempt and not-for-profit organizations of all sizes on issues that include tax exemption, private foundation issues, board operations, bylaws and certificates of incorporation, joint ventures, corporate structuring, state-agency approvals, legal agreements, fundraising issues, U.S. laws affecting foreign charities, and more.
Hodgson Russ has been awarded a prestigious "Best Law Firms" Metropolitan Tier 1 ranking by Best Lawyers/U.S. News & World Report in the Nonprofit/Charities Law category.
Our not-for-profit law experience includes:
- Tax exemption, including initial applications; reporting information to the IRS, including Form 990; unrelated business income tax; advising on IRS audits; advising on New York State sales tax and real property tax exemptions; and reporting to the New York State Charities Bureau
- Private foundation issues, including advising on self-dealing, excise taxes, minimum distributions, excess business holdings, and other matters; Hodgson Russ represents a large number of private foundations, including some with assets in excess of $500 million
- Board operation, including best practices relating to governance; director responsibilities and liabilities and D&O insurance; interactions among directors and staff; and adoption of board policies on ethics, conflicts of interest, whistleblowing, record retention, and gift acceptance procedures
- Bylaws and certificates of incorporation, including analysis of and amendments to these documents and necessary approvals from state agencies, the New York State attorney general, and the New York State Supreme Court
- Joint ventures with other not-for-profits and with for-profits, including service-sharing arrangements among a group of not-for-profits and health care projects between not-for-profit and for-profit providers
- Corporate structuring, including mergers, dissolutions, and creation of subsidiaries (both nonprofit and for-profit); examples include a merger of four hospital foundations, purchase of a for-profit school by a nonprofit and converting the school to nonprofit status, creation of single-member LLC subsidiaries, creation of supporting foundations for nonprofits, and creation of for-profit entities owned by nonprofits for the conduct of unrelated business
- Approvals from state agencies, the New York State attorney general, and the New York State Supreme Court for real estate sales, asset sales, mergers, and dissolutions of New York religious corporations and nonprofit corporations
- Legal agreements, including drafting, analysis, and explanation of documents such as executive employment agreements, leases, confidentiality agreements, agreements with service providers, and joint venture operating agreements
- Endowments, pledge agreements, and planned-giving vehicles, including their creation and maintenance
- Advice and guidance on fiscal sponsorship arrangements and related fiscal sponsorship agreements and operational requirements
- U.S. laws affecting foreign charities, including issues involving U.S. “friends” organizations to support foreign charities, U.S. withholding rules affecting foreign charities with U.S.-sourced investment income, and grants from U.S. private foundations to foreign charities
- Labor and employment law, including human resources issues, employee benefits, and managing employees and union relations, dispute resolution, and litigation
- Litigation involving such things as dissident members, property ownership, and governance issues
- Health law advice to hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospices, clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, behavioral health providers, and other providers, on matters such as reimbursement, regulatory, and compliance matters
- Counseling on legislative updates and government directives and regulations that affect nonprofits
- Advising schools, universities and colleges, and their foundations and related organizations on student housing projects and financing, tax issues, faculty-student associations, alumni associations, sponsorship and affinity agreements, and other matters
- Intellectual property matters, including patent, trademark, copyright, unfair competition, and trade secret laws
- Advising country clubs, homeowner and condominium associations, master associations, and property owners’ ad hoc associations
- Advising religious organizations on all legal aspects of their operations
- Advising Tax-Exempt Equine Associations and Foundations on all types of nonprofit and tax-exempt matters, including the organization and management of Section 501(c)(5) breeders’ associations, such as membership associations organized to maintain the purity of a certain type of equine breed, to promote interest in the breed, and to establish, maintain and publish authoritative records, registers and transfers of ownership of the breed
- $11.6 Million Refunding of Nonprofit's Existing Tax-Exempt Bonds
- $50 Million Charitable Pledge to University
- Creation of Local Development Corporations to Provide for Nonprofit Tax-Exempt Financing
- Development of a $300 Million Clinical Translational Research Center/Biosciences Incubator
- Development of a $375 Million Medical School
- Establishing U.S. "Friends" Organizations for Foreign Charities
- Income Tax-Deductible Contributions to Foreign Charities Made Possible Through 501(c)(3)
- Lockport Ice Arena and Sports Center Development & Construction
- New York Community College Housing Construction & Financing
- Real Estate Counsel to Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
- Refinancing a Nonprofit's Existing Tax-Exempt Fixed-Rate Bonds
- Sale of Student Housing Complex, Bond Defeasance for a University
- SUNY Student Housing Development and Operation
- Tax Counsel to Prominent NYC Cultural Organizations
- Union Relationship Management on Behalf of For-Profit & Nonprofit Employers
- University Affiliate Successfully Defended in Trademark Opposition Case
- Victory for Hindu Temple in New York State’s Highest Court
In the News
- Buffalo Business First, May 22, 2020
- Albany Business Review, November 16, 2018
Press Releases
- June 6, 2023
- Hodgson Russ Press Release, November 15, 2021
- Hodgson Russ Press Release, April 27, 2020
- Press Release, November 18, 2015
Publications
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, December 15, 2021
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, November 10, 2021
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, May 14, 2021
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, May 13, 2021
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, November 2, 2020
- Hodgson Russ Renewable Energy Alert, September 22, 2020
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, April 16, 2020
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert , April 3, 2020
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, March 30, 2020
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, February 13, 2020
- Hodgson Russ Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, June 19, 2019
- Federal and International Tax Alert, December 18, 2017
- Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, December 1, 2016
- Client Alert, August 30, 2016
- Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, July 28, 2016
- Cross-Border Charitable ActivitiesCanadian Not-For-Profit News, February 1, 2016
- Tax-Exempt Organizations Alert, December 15, 2015
- Canadian Tax Highlights, November 2015
- Canadian Tax Highlights, August 2015
- Talk of the Towns, March 2015
- New York Law Journal, January 5, 2015
- State Tax Notes, March 31, 2014
- JD Supra, February 24, 2014
- Nonprofit Alert, June 16, 2011
Presentations & Events
- ABA Section of Taxation 2022 Fall Tax MeetingDallas, TX, October 13, 2022
- August 8, 2022
- October 1, 2019
- Understanding New York State Tax Issues of 2019The Harvard Club 35 W. 44th Street, New York, NY, June 12 - August 7, 2019
- Hodgson Russ, The Guaranty Building, 140 Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY, November 13, 2018
- Camp Finance 2018New Paltz, New York, October 4-5, 2018
- Hodgson Russ, The Guaranty Building, 140 Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY, July 11, 2018
- Camp Finance 2017October 6, 2017
- Camp Finance 2017October 5, 2017
- Camp Finance 2017October 5, 2017
- Tax Exempt Organizations From Start to FinishRochester, New York, June 16, 2016
- New York Council of Nonprofits Seminar: Living with the NY Nonprofit Revitalization Act - Practical AdviceAlbany, NY, October 8, 2015
- Canada/U.S. Cross-Border Estate and Income Tax PlanningToronto, Ontario, September 17, 2014