CA Secretary of State As of January 1, 2021, filings with the Secretary of State by a domestic (CA) corporation or a foreign corporation that is qualified to transact business in California must include the entity name and entity number as they exist on the Secretary of State’s records....
CALIFORNIA LAW
California FTB Update for Nonprofits
Here are some updates from the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) affecting nonprofit tax-exempt organizations: Changes Effective January 1, 2021 Form 3500 Application Fee Eliminated – Form 3500 applications received on or after 01/01/2021 will no longer require the $25 application fee. FTB will use the received date as...
WCTEO 2020 Highlights: Nonprofits in Distress
The following are some of the highlights from the session on Nonprofits in Distress at the 2020 Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations (WCTEO), presented by Erin Bradrick (NEO Law Group), Ofer Lion (Seyfarth Shaw), Tania Moyron (Dentons), and Stephanie Petit (Adler Colvin): Zone of Insolvency, Bankruptcy, and Debt Restructuring Under...
WCTEO 2020 Highlights: Charitable Purpose in the 21st Century
The following are some of the highlights from the session on Charitable Purpose in the 21st Century at the 2020 Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations (WCTEO): Historical context: Rev. Rul. 71-447: “All charitable trusts, educational or otherwise, are subject to the requirement that the purpose of the trust...
California AG: Charity Governance During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Earlier this month, the California Office of the Attorney General (“AG”) published Charity Governance During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Here are some excerpted highlights from the publication applicable to California nonprofit corporations with some comments: Emergency Provisions Unless prohibited by the nonprofit’s emergency bylaws, the following actions can be taken...
California AG: New Forms for Charities & Fundraisers
Effective February 1, 2020, the California Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts will require charities and professional fundraisers to use new and amended forms. These new forms are now available on the AG Registry Forms webpage and may be used now (as of the date of this post). Significant...
California AB 1712: Donor Advised Funds (Round Two)
We previously wrote about California AB 1712 when it was a spot bill, a placeholder to address the Legislature’s intent to enact legislation on the subject matter of donor advised funds (DAFs). Fast forward 10 months and AB 1712 has been amended to focus on transparency and data collection...
California AB 5: Employee or Independent Contractor
California’s so-called “Gig Worker Bill,” Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), goes into effect on January 1, 2020. AB 5 modifies how workers are classified as employees or independent contractors for state law purposes and codifies the 2018 California Supreme Court decision known as Dynamex. Nonprofits that make use of...
The Sale of Charitable Assets to a For-Profit
We have recently seen an increasing number of transactions involving the sale of charitable assets to for-profit entities. While generally permissible if conducted properly, these sales raise a number of legal issues at both the federal and state levels that must be considered. Where the transaction is motivated in...
Amending California Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation
In our previous post on California Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation, we noted that filing of the Articles effectively forms the corporation. As a corporation evolves over time, provisions in the original Articles may no longer accurately describe what is desired by the corporation’s leaders. When that happens, it becomes...