Okay, I just off the phone with the IRS? And no, I am not afraid to call them. J
Points of Interest:
1. The donated money is not taxed.
2. Whomever is the designated ?holder? of the money, if he puts the money into a bank account, then he would have to file a claim on the interest only. Again, only interest and/or dividends would have to be filed for whomever is the ?holder? of the money.
3. The ?holder? should be an US citizen or legal resident alien.
4. Foreign donations would not be accepted. If you are overseas, sorry.
5. Those that donate the money would not be able to file their donation for charity exemptions as you have not donated to a non-for profit.
6. We may give our donations to whoever or whatever we want. Meaning, we can give to a non-for-profit or we can give to an individual.
7. This means, we can give freely if someone (Smokey?) want to step up and keep this organized.
My Suggestions:
1. Set-up Pay Pal account and provide information to forum members with a cut-off date for donating.
2. Provide information on where the donated money will be going.
3. ?Holder? should provide detailed accounting to all forum members on monies accumulated.
4. ?Holder? should provide copies of statements of donation received from non-for-profit organizations.
5. If there is money left over, then forum members can take a poll for where the left-over money should be given, (I.e. AZ forum itself, needy AZ?er, touring professional, etc.)
6. If forum members are interested in setting up something more permanently, then we can file for non-for profit. That would mean setting up a corporation with board members that I?m assuming everyone can vote for on AZ.
We would be trusting whomever we send this money to, they will have to do the right thing by all of us. In the spirit of this forum, I do not see this as an issue, but some accountability should be considered. With that said, I hope this goes forward and I hope this information helps. According the IRS, this is no different than holding a car wash or having a spaghetti dinner with the intention of donating the money.
Points of Interest:
1. The donated money is not taxed.
2. Whomever is the designated ?holder? of the money, if he puts the money into a bank account, then he would have to file a claim on the interest only. Again, only interest and/or dividends would have to be filed for whomever is the ?holder? of the money.
3. The ?holder? should be an US citizen or legal resident alien.
4. Foreign donations would not be accepted. If you are overseas, sorry.
5. Those that donate the money would not be able to file their donation for charity exemptions as you have not donated to a non-for profit.
6. We may give our donations to whoever or whatever we want. Meaning, we can give to a non-for-profit or we can give to an individual.
7. This means, we can give freely if someone (Smokey?) want to step up and keep this organized.
My Suggestions:
1. Set-up Pay Pal account and provide information to forum members with a cut-off date for donating.
2. Provide information on where the donated money will be going.
3. ?Holder? should provide detailed accounting to all forum members on monies accumulated.
4. ?Holder? should provide copies of statements of donation received from non-for-profit organizations.
5. If there is money left over, then forum members can take a poll for where the left-over money should be given, (I.e. AZ forum itself, needy AZ?er, touring professional, etc.)
6. If forum members are interested in setting up something more permanently, then we can file for non-for profit. That would mean setting up a corporation with board members that I?m assuming everyone can vote for on AZ.
We would be trusting whomever we send this money to, they will have to do the right thing by all of us. In the spirit of this forum, I do not see this as an issue, but some accountability should be considered. With that said, I hope this goes forward and I hope this information helps. According the IRS, this is no different than holding a car wash or having a spaghetti dinner with the intention of donating the money.