Washington, DC – Debating Equality of Tax Treatment Across Charities
The Chronicleof Philanthropy reports that Catholic University in Washington, DC is hostinga symposium today, April 14, entitled “Philanthropyin the 21st Century: Should All Charities Be Equal?” The primary focus of the symposium isconsideration of whether tax law should distinguish between different types ofcharities. This issue raises questionsof line drawing and what to emphasize in distinguishing charities from othercompanies and from each other. Manycharities engage in activities that closely resemble for-profit companies butenjoy more favorable tax treatment.
One of the mostrecent and high profile examples of the issues in this area is the Provena case recently decided by the IllinoisSupreme Court. That case upheld denialof a charitable hospital’s property tax exemption because the hospital hadfailed to provide sufficient charitable services. Another question regarding the charitableexemption is whether charities directly aiding the poor deserve greater taxbenefits.
The panelistsinclude Diana Aviv, head of Independent Sector; Richard L. Schmalbeck, aprofessor of law at Duke University; Eugene Steuerle, a fellow at the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank; and Russ Sullivan, chief of staff ofthe Senate Finance Committee and an aide to its chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, Democratof Montana. The moderator is ProfessorRoger Colinvaux, professor of?,
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