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The Info from the IRS about 501(c) will not address the "be your own resident agent", because the Resident agent is a State issue. contact the state of Oregon, and get that info.
you haven`t explained what you intended to accomplish through the Charitable Tax Exempt Status of a 501 (c). If I knew a little more about your goal I might be able to give you a little more direction.
Richard
I am not sure I am understanding your question then Richard. The purpose of my organization is to provide research and information services to the families and care givers of special needs individuals. By being Non-Profit (ie: 501 (c)3) I can provide these services without causing more financial concerns for these families. As a special needs mom myself I understand that every little penny counts...and had I been given the choice back at the beginning of having someone else do the research for me for a small fee...or doing it myself...I wouldn`t have had much choice due to money constraints...and would`ve wound up doing it alone anyway. This way the services are available and accessable by these families and they are allowed to focus on their loved onesand being advocates for them...not the research that is required to be a solid advocate.
Not sure...does that answer your question better!?
Yes, that is good starting point. Let me clear a few points. Any payment these families pay for services is not a charitable contribution, and would not be tax deductible. The only thing deductible is the free giving away of money or assets with nothing in return. You certainly can do what you do, and I commend you for it, but you may be jumping through some hoops that won`t net you much.
I assume your organization does not intend to be very profitable. Which means no taxes would be paid whether you were a charitable org or a for profit org.
Contributions, from benefactors would be tax deductible to the giver, if they are individuals but for corporations, the tax deductible charitable contribution limit is 10% of net profit. And you would be competing with many other charities for some portion of that contribution. If you are looking for corporate support there may another way. If you are a for profit org, and offer a service to a business, the entire amount paid is deductible. Since you expect to spend all or nearly all of the money, there would be no tax due at your level.
Just a little out of the box thinking.
As far as profitable...initially...probably not...but most aren`t...ultimately...this is going to be an international and VERY large non-profit...so profit should be rather large coming from contributions and donations.
Also...if I am understanding you correctly...and I apologize if I read your post wrong...the services we are supplying are for the families of these special needs individuals. We provide resource information, support information, funding resource information etc. Providing these services to a business wouldn`t be very beneficial to them. Not to mention, our services allow the doctors to direct their patients to us...so it frees up their time for focusing on their patients medical needs instead of having to research this information for their clients. If we offered the services to the doctors themselves...then they would still have to facilitate the contact with us...then make sure the information got to their patients...it seemed like less work for the doctors involved if they could just hand their clients a brochure that told them who to go to for help finding information.
Ultimately though...the idea behind this venture is not so much to make me tons of money...yes...I want to be able to pay my bills...but in the end...I want to make sure there is somewhere these parents can go for reliable information without the struggle and frustration of searching endlessly for it themselves. Think of Google or Yahoo...only cleaner...specialized...and not-for-profit! Think of SCORE...that is what I want to be...only to the special needs community...not small business start-ups!
I don`t know much about taxes...which is obviously your expertise...so I really value this input! Thank you so much! Keep it coming.
Well, let`s strip away some of the myths about Charities.
They pay taxes like all other businesses on their business income, it is known as the UBTI, unrelated business taxable income. So if you are going to be in "business" and I am sorry to use such a vulgar word, you need to look at the business side.
If you want charitable contributions form people you need to look at the charity side.
So are you looking for charitable contributions? Are you going to run ads on television and radio, asking people to give money, are you going to buy lists of "known contributors" and send letters of appeal for money? If so, you might want to be a Charity.
If not, you may want to avoid the headache, heartache, extra paperwork and endless management issues of applying for 501 c status.
I am definitely going to be a charitable entity...501(c)3 is what we are currently working towards. Although after speaking with a new SCORE counselor today who is very familiar with starting a non-profit...it looks like we may end up doing that in a different way which would allow me to get started without initially dealing with all of the major paperwork...but we shall see!
IF that doesn`t work out though...we will be going ahead and filing as a 501(c)3 to start...hmmm...potentially a 501(c)4 depending on what direction we decide to take...but I do understand that any unrelated business expenses/profits would be taxable regardless of my status.
I know this is probably a past issue, but when you referred to the "Different Way" of being a charity, he didn`t talk about a "corporation sole" did he.
Don`t do it.
Richard
phone 800 590-6612
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