Tax Exempt Organizations
Nonprofits and exempt organizations are focused on delivering upon their mission, however complicated regulations dictate every structure of their life-cycle. It’s crucial nonprofits know how to stay in compliance with government rules and regulations. Our attorneys understand the important work these organizations provide and realize they can ease the burden of compliance.
We work with public charities, private foundations, social service organizations, and family trusts from their inception – preparing organizational documents and tax exempt applications – through ongoing maintenance and daily operations. Specifically services include:
- Incorporation and corporate structures
- Nonprofit board governance
- Mandatory filings
- IRS issues
- Tax-exemption applications
- Legal audits
- Charitable solicitation registration
- State and local tax matters
- Charitable gifts and fundraising
- Unrelated business income tax (UBIT)
- Board governance
- Employment
- Investment and endowment policies
- Reasonable compensation
Our lawyers also counsel section 501(c)(3) organizations in fundraising and donor-related activities, providing advice on matters such as:
- Compliance with charitable solicitation laws
- Availability of income tax deductions for donors, and substantiation requirements
- Creation of donor advised funds, field of interest funds and endowment funds
- Creation of charitable remainder and lead trusts
- Creation of gifts annuities and pooled income funds
Founded in 1920, Ruder Ware provides business, employment, estate planning, and litigation services through its offices in Wausau, Eau Claire, and Green Bay, Wisconsin. A full-service law firm, over 40 attorneys provide clients with a one-stop approach to their legal needs. Ruder Ware, Business Attorneys for Business Success.
Posted on December 14, 2020 by Kayla E. Murphy
The holiday season is a time of giving! With Christmas arriving next week, you might be rushing to find last minute gifts for the special people in your life. Have you considered potential tax consequences of those gifts? The annual gift exclusion for 2020 is $15,000. This means that an individual donor may gift $15,000 […]
Posted on July 30, 2020 by Mark J. Bradley, Shanna N. Yonke and Mark D. Munson
Peter, Paul, and Mary have done well for themselves. Each has a nice home, a seasonal residence, and a large IRA. Coincidentally, each also has an additional $11 million worth of real estate, savings, brokerage accounts, and closely-held business interests. We advised Peter, Paul, and Mary that in 2020 each has a federal gift and […]
Posted on June 24, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke
Yesterday, the IRS issued additional guidance regarding two hot topics over the last six months: the waiver of the 2020 required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement plans and IRAs, and the change in the required beginning date for RMDs from age 70 ½ to age 72. Extension and Expansion of 60-Day Rollover for 2020 RMDs […]
Posted on May 7, 2020 by Melissa S. Kampmann
On the same day we published the article My Deceased Family Member Received a COVID-19 Stimulus Check, Now What? the IRS provided guidance on how to return stimulus payments that were made under the CARES Act to deceased individuals. If your deceased family member or relative received a paper check by mail, you should follow these […]
Posted on May 6, 2020 by Melissa S. Kampmann
There has been significant publicity surrounding the issue of deceased individuals receiving stimulus checks under the CARES Act. It is far more common than you may think, simply because of the speed in which our government operated to send out the payments. The stimulus checks were issued to individuals that met certain income requirements and […]
Posted on April 29, 2020 by Mark J. Bradley and Jessica A. Merkel
Maybe you were informed ahead of time or maybe you found out when you were first called upon to act. In any event, someone (a parent, a sibling, a friend, a neighbor) named you as their agent or attorney-in-fact under a Wisconsin power of attorney for finances.[1] Now what?[2] What Are Your Rights and Responsibilities? […]
Posted on April 17, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke
In our recent blog post, The Early Bird RMD Doesn’t Get the Tax Relief Worm, we provided guidance regarding the suspension of required minimum distributions (RMDs) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). We advised that if you already took your RMD for 2020, the CARES Act may allow you […]
Posted on April 15, 2020 by Melissa S. Kampmann and Ashley L. Hawley
As many churches in our area celebrated Easter in their parking lots or over video recordings, we cannot help but think what impact the coronavirus is having on not just churches but other local nonprofit organizations in our communities. Loss of jobs or lowered salaries have left many people cutting non-essential expenses, including club memberships […]
Posted on April 6, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke and Melissa S. Kampmann
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) into law on March 27, 2020. Ruder Ware’s COVID-19 Focus Team provided a summary of the CARES Act in a previous blog post. In that post, they mentioned that the CARES Act suspends most required […]
Posted on March 31, 2020 by Shanna N. Yonke
In our blog post on estate planning in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Melissa Kampmann and I noted that it isn’t possible to create a valid will in Wisconsin without two witnesses, and it isn’t the best practice to create a will without two witnesses and a notary public. But there’s more to creating […]
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