Organizing A Bloodless Coup d’état is Not a Charitable Purpose, Service Rules

An organization’s admitted purpose to peacefully take over a foreign country’s government and become the people’s benevolent leader is not charitable.  No kidding.  Here are excerpts from PLR 202316011, released last week:

Your Bylaws state you are a “civil democratic party” based on E citizenship where the law prevails and protects the rights of all. You will seek to win over the E people in the United States, to make their sound heard. You will organize demonstrations to support the cause of E people. You will establish long-term political relations between the immigrants to the United States from D and the American people. You gain public opinion and mobilize American organizations to make the American people aware of the crisis in D. You raise funds to support the affected people of D through coordination with other organizations concerned with D. You establish relationships with legislators and American decision makers at the state and federal levels.

You described your activities in your application as “partisan activity” conducted by a “group of members and people” in D. You are funded through donations. When we asked how the activities further your exempt purpose you said, “Not specified.” In your application you indicated that you would not attempt to influence legislation and you would not support or oppose candidates in political campaigns. However, you went on to state that you will operate in the foreign country of D as “an E political party.”

You submitted a document which describes this political party. It discusses unity, freedoms, and building society as well as “building the state.” Building the state “includes infrastructure, departments, institutions, services, law, and placing the individual in the right place.” Your “party’s goal is to support the cause politically and morally toward change in D and to support the people of D by collecting donations from people, charitable organizations, and civil society organizations.

You have a project where you will “work for the people as a government of law not of people or groups.” The only goal of this project “is to better the people of D safe and secure [sic] working for sovereignty on internal affairs by securing D’s security cooperating [sic] with other countries but without them interfering in internal affairs.” You will create job opportunities for all. You will protect and care for women, children, and the elderly. You will also provide activities inviting E people to meet and greet. You will contact them by phone or in person to set up a welfare program to help refugees. There are members of your party “having to register more members” and also helping people who can’t afford to buy food or other necessities, etc. You have tried to contact legislative members, but at this time you have not participated or intervened in any political campaigns. 

Conclusion

Based on the above facts and analysis, you do not qualify for exemption under IRC Section 501(c)(3). You fail both the organizational and operational tests. You fail the organizational test because your organizing document doesn’t limit your purposes to those described in Section 50l(c)(3) and your assets are not dedicated to an exempt purpose upon your dissolution. You fail the operational test because you were formed for the substantial non-exempt purpose of establishing and promoting a political party and related legislative activities in D. Accordingly, you are precluded from exemption under Section 50l{c)(3).

darryll jones