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Probate & Trust Law Section Conference Manual ... - Minnesota CLE

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4. Net Investment Income. An excise tax of 2% or 1% applies to the net<br />

investment income of the private foundation. See I.R.C. 4940(e).<br />

5. Unrelated Business Income. Like other non-profit organizations, private<br />

foundations are subject to tax on any “unrelated business” income. See<br />

generally I.R.C. 513(a).<br />

D. Penalty Taxes. To enforce that the private foundation operates for “charitable”<br />

purposes, certain areas of abuse are regulated through the imposition of severe<br />

penalty (excise) taxes.<br />

1. Self-dealing. This is a primary area of concern. The founder and other<br />

substantial contributors, as defined under the Code’s attribution rules, are<br />

“disqualified persons” and as such, are generally restricted from entering<br />

into transactions with the private foundation. Examples include: leasing,<br />

sales, loans, compensation, etc. See I.R.C. 4941.<br />

2. Failure to Distribute. A private foundation must distribute a certain<br />

amount of its income to charity each year. The current requirement is<br />

(with some exceptions) 5% of the value of its assets. See I.R.C. 4942(d)<br />

and 4942(e). The failure to meet that requirement results in a tiered<br />

system of penalty taxes. See I.R.C. 4942.<br />

3. Excess Business Holdings. Private foundations are generally not<br />

permitted to own “more than 20% of a corporation’s voting stock, less the<br />

percentage owned by all “disqualified persons.” See I.R.C. 4943.<br />

4. Jeopardy Investments. A penalty tax applies to investments that would<br />

jeopardize the tax-exempt status of the private foundation. See I.R.C.<br />

4944.<br />

5. Lobbying. A private foundation must not engage in lobbying or certain<br />

other “political” expenditures. See I.R.C. 4945.<br />

VI.<br />

DONOR ADVISED FUNDS.<br />

A. Definition and Operation.<br />

1. A donor advised fund is a segregated fund owned by a public charity. It is<br />

the property of the public charity in its own capacity, not as trustee of a<br />

separate trust. The public charity has complete control over how the fund<br />

will be used. IRC §4966(d)(2)(A).<br />

2. Typically, all or part of the assets of the fund are used to make<br />

distributions to other charitable organizations which are not necessarily<br />

related to the public charity which holds the fund. SeeIRC<br />

§ 4966(d)(2)(B).<br />

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