Legal Question in Tax Law in Washington

International non-profit tax-exemption in the US

Dear,

I have a Belgian non-profit promoting international mobility of performing arts. Right now we applied for an authorization certificate for our US agency in Seattle. We will also apply for an EIN to apply for 'income tax'-exemption for foreign performers. Since we (the US agency) will try to apply for grants in the US, we might get quite some income on our EIN too. Do you think we should apply for a non-profit tax-exempt status with the IRS, or is this not necessary since our organization is already tax-exempt according to Belgian law (and is authorized to work as a non-profit according to the Secr. of St. in Washington)? A quite complicated question, I know. Hope you can help us out.


Asked on 10/18/04, 6:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Dr. Michael A. S. Guth Tennessee Attorney at Law Assists Pro Se (without a lawyer) Parties

Re: International non-profit tax-exemption in the US

This is actually an easy question to answer and not complicated at all. YES, you should apply to the IRS for registration as a 501(C) corporation -- which is a non-profit corporation able to collect tax-deductible donations from the public.

You must be registered with the IRS to seek tax deductible donations from the public. However, you are free to seek grants whether you are non-profit or for profit. Your Belgian status makes no difference in the U.S., because it would be legal for a non-profit agency in Belgium to operate on a for-profit basis in the U.S., e.g., designing and selling costumes.

If you need help finding the IRS forms, you will find the IRS has a very helpful website at www.irs.gov

There are buttons to lead to you to the pages to download forms.

Michael A. S. Guth

http://riskmgmt.biz

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Answered on 10/18/04, 7:19 pm


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