Exempt Organizations Today at ABA Tax Section Meeting

ABA Tax’s Fall Section Meeting kicks off virtually today.  Here are a few Exempt Organization Sessions:

11:00AM – 12:00PM
Exempt Organizations Subcommittee Session 1: Subcommittee on Political & Lobbying Activities of Exempt  Organizations 

12:15PM – 2:15PM Exempt Organizations: Part 1

Chair: Alexander L. Reid, Baker Hostetler LLP

12:15PM Federal Tax Update from the IRS and Treasury. Representatives from the IRS and Treasury
Department will discuss topics of current interest to tax exempt organizations practitioners.

Panelists: Amber MacKenzie, Attorney-Advisor, Office of Tax Policy, Department of Treasury; Rachel Levy, Associate Chief Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel (EEE), IRS; Lynne Camillo, Deputy Associate Chief Counsel, Office of Associate Chief Counsel (EEE), IRS; Michael Gruccio, Attorney, Office of the Chief Counsel, IRS

1:15PM Use of Race in a Post-Affirmative Action World: Evolving Standards and Applications.

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 29, 2023 in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College that colleges and universities can no longer consider race as a factor in admissions. This landmark decision overturned a four-decade precedent that allowed schools to use affirmative action to increase diversity. The question on the minds of exempt organizations practitioners is whether the scope of the decision is limited to college admissions or whether the decision has implications for other charitable and educational activities that utilize race as a factor, such as scholarship programs. Join us as we discuss what the future may hold in this evolving area of the law.

Exempt Organizations Part 2
Chair: Alexander L. Reid, Baker Hostetler LLP

4:15 PM State Regulatory Update. State regulators provide a critical role in overseeing the nonprofit sector, particularly with respect to governance and the fiduciary obligations of directors and officers.

This panel will provide an update on the enforcement activities of the state attorneys general with regard to charities and other nonprofit organizations.

Panelists: Yael Fuchs, Sedreddine & Whoriskey LLP; Beth Short, Charitable Law Section, Ohio Attorney General’s Office; Courtney Aladro, Bureau Chief, Health Care and Fair Competition Bureau, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

5:15PM Major Questions: What Counts as Binding Legal Authority for Tax Opinions?

The volume of published guidance from IRS and Treasury affecting nonprofit organizations has declined markedly since the post-Civil Rights era of the 1970s and 1980s, yet nonprofits continue to push legal boundaries. More often than not, important issues are addressed through non-binding authority such as instructions to forms, private letter rulings, and, most recently, Generic Legal Advice Memoranda (GLAMs). Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has signaled a sea change with respect to the reliability of regulations and other administrative guidance answering so-called “major questions” if such guidance is not clearly supported by statutory authority. In a world where the tax legal opinion standards require practitioners to determine the likelihood that a court would hold in favor of the taxpayer regarding its tax position, what is a responsible tax practitioner to do?

Panelists: Meghan Biss, Capin & Drysdale; Marc Owens, Loeb & Loeb; Ofer Lion, Seyfarth Shaw LLP

darryll k. jones