VOID: A political action association.
UPDATE: March 17, 2006. The Board is reconsidering its vote discussed below. The President is seeking legal counsel on this matter as there may still be value in organizing as a 501(c)4 while local chapters operate as independent organizations under IRS code 527. (End of Update).
The Board convened yesterday and voted unanimously to organize VOID as a political action association, and forego attempts to seek tax exemption under the Charitable Organization rules of the IRS. In technical terms, this means VOID is organizing under the guidelines of the IRS 527 Code instead of the 501(c)3 or 501(c)4 codes.
527 organizations, as they are commonly referred to, are political organizations, which include campaign committees, political action committees, and others. 527 organizations are subject to tax, but, not on revenues received for, or expenditures made toward, efforts to influence votes at election time. Since, there is no question that VOID seeks to influence the outcomes of elections in its demand for politicians who will end the corruption and abuse of our political system and governance, this decision will further enhance VOID's growth by providing tax exempt status to the bulk of our efforts and cash stream. What we give up in
this decision is the ability to offer donors or members a tax deduction for their donations to VOID.
This step also insures that our local chapter organizations have very few, if any, federal regulations to comply with. If they grow in size regarding their revenues and expenditures for, or against, specific candidates, some dollar amount triggers will require they report to the FEC and or IRS. This is a far smaller burden than trying to comply with the 501 codes, which restrict many political activities in time and scope.
The only requirement under the 527 code that applies to VOID at this moment is that we establish a bank account for receipt of, and disbursement from, all funds to be used on electioneering or campaign development and implementation in the November elections.
I want to thank Daniel Summars and Stephanie Crist for their efforts in helping me review and come to a decision on this fundamental and crucially important decision upon which the rest of our efforts at Vote Out Incumbents for Democracy will be determined and grow upon. We also extend our thanks to the IRS for their assistance and information.
Onward toward to a more ethical political system and more efficient, accountable, and responsible government.
Comments
David,
Tax exempt donations or not, this is an important step in the process of cleaning up our government and inviting the rouge's gallery who has been in charge for so long to leave.
Personally, I don't think that donations to any political organization should be exempt, and that includes the massive donations made by the large corporations that think they can buy and sell the American people.
It is up to us, the individuals, to show them that their money is meaningless when it comes to getting a government "Of the people, by the people and for the people" back on track. We ARE the people and we refuse to be ignored any longer.
2008 will be too late.
Do you know who your candidates for November 2006 are?
Posted by: Abbe Allen | February 27, 2006 11:47 AM
Abbe, couldn't agree more. I too would like to see the tax payer relieved of its obligation to subsidize the political voice of their opponents. Everyone should have a voice, and everyone's voice should be represented to the extent possible under our Constitution in the halls of our government.
Which leads us to creating a level playing field for competing political parties. But, of course that won't happen until enough incumbents get the boot, forcing others to change the laws that maintain the Republocrat advantage and blockades to 3rd parties and independent candidates.
Posted by: David R. Remer | February 27, 2006 11:58 AM
I know who they aren't.
: )
Yes, time is important, because reforms will be more painful the longer they are prevented by irresponsible, bought-and-paid-for incumbents, who always out-number newcomers to congress.
It would be nice if we don't have to learn the hard way again.
What is interesting how much time and energy is spent discussing badly-needed reforms, but failing to realize that it is all futile until voters, first, remember to do the one thing they were supposed to be doing all along.
It is no longer as important who is elected to office as is whether they will, or will not succumb to the pressures, temptations, and threats from incumbents to shun or isolate newcomers if they do not accept the status quo.
Since incumbents always outnumber newcomers, it is important that voters learn to keep voting out irresponsible incumbents, always.
If not, I believe the next inevitable recession (which have been occurring about every 2 to 11 years for that last 46 years), based on the following factors, may turn into a depression.
Posted by: d.a.n | February 27, 2006 10:55 PM
Along the same lines, there's another new political organization starting up that might interest some VOID supporters. American Bloggers for Inclusive Debates is looking at how to put pressure on our representatives to open up the election process to those outside the two-party system. Check it out if it sounds at all interesting.
Posted by: Stephanie | March 11, 2006 10:53 PM