Recommended Reading: Nonprofit & Tax Law
James R. Hines, Jill Horwitz & Austin Nichols’ The Attack on Nonprofit Status: A Charitable Assessment, just posted on SSRN, forthcoming in 108 Mich L. Rev. 1179 responds to the literature advocating for tax benefits to any entity, including the for-profit, that engages in charitable activity, regardless of organizational status. Ultimately, the authors argue for the exclusive retention of tax exemption for the nonprofit firm, employing economic analysis and extant though limited empirical data to suggest the superior efficiency, higher quality and lower costs of nonprofits for at least some charitable activities. The article is rich with empirical data about the demographic differences between the for-profit and non-profit employee, from which it suggests employees of the two sectors may be differently motivated – by altruism as opposed to monetary incentives — thereby reducing costs and arguably increasing efficiency and quality. Professor Horwitz’s work always makes an important contribution to the literature, and she doesn’t disappoint in this article either.
Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer and Brendan M. Wilson’s Regulating Charities in the 21st Century: An Institutional Choice Analysis, available on SSRN, forthcoming in Chicago-Kent Law Review, invokes institutional choice theory to determine the best locus for the regulation of the charitable sector. The article concludes that charity governance, comprising rulemaking and enforcement, best resides in a state agency independent of but related to the attorney general. This outcome respects the historic role of the state in regulating charities, takes advantage of the state’s expertise in nonprofit oversight, and enables the state to be nimble in its regulatory approach. The provision of sufficient funding remains a concern with this choice. Also of concern is inter-state consistency in regulating the multi-state nonprofit charity; inconsistency can foster regulatory arbitrage.



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In addition to the Horwitz et al. piece, Brian Galle’s response to Malani/Posner attack on non-profits looks interesting:
http://www.texaslrev.com/sites/default/files/issues/vol88/pdf/Galle.pdf