Hawks, John. For a Good Cause? -- How Charitable Institutions Become Powerful Economic Bullies. Secaucus NJ: Birch Lane Press (Carol Publishing Group), 1997. 240 pages.

When you think of the word "nonprofit," what comes to mind? Your local church, PTA raffles, Boy Scouts, Salvation Army bell-ringers? They're all still around, but you're 30 years behind. Since 1970, nonprofit groups have grown four times faster than the U.S. economy as a whole. Now there are 1.2 million of them. They control more than $1 trillion in assets, and employ more people than the federal government and all fifty state governments combined. To put it bluntly, the business of operating with a tax exemption has become big business.

Federal tax laws for nonprofits are complex, having evolved over nearly nine decades. Too many interests are at stake by now, and any changes in the laws will be gradual at best. State and local laws almost always defer to federal law; the states don't have enough lawyers to redefine all this complexity. This "trickle-down" has a serious impact on the tax base (such as sales and property taxes). But at the same time, there's almost no enforcement at the federal level. Once a determination is made, it's rare that this status is revoked for cause. The author feels that this lack of regulation has led to serious abuses by nonprofits -- from fat salaries and unlimited expense accounts, to outright swindles.
ISBN 1-55972-387-4

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