PamelaJohn
commented
6 years ago History: Issue #229 was introduced at the 01-08-18 community Ops meeting. Consent to continue discussion of the amendments was granted. Discussion was temporarily tabled until after Democratizing Democracy virtual conference and IRS decision to allow ProgCode’s application to operate as a 501(c)(4) Additional community discussion took place on 04-23 & 04-16-2018. Implementation of amendment was delayed pending:
- Inclusion of plain language use case scenarios in the proposed 501(c)(4) amendment.
- Review and update of the Community Guidelines to comply with community votes & all state and federal laws
stephenscapelliti
Proposal: Amend the ProgCode Guidelines to inform members and new registrants about IRS restrictions
Description
This initiative seeks both input and approval from the ProgCode community to amend the ProgCode Community Guidelines to include an explanation of prohibited activity which will inform members and new registrants of the limitations placed on ProgCode by IRS regulations.
Problem
ProgCode members and new registrants should have a means of determining which activities are permissible when using ProgCode resources, such as the Slack, GitHub, and Airtable. IRS regulations restrict certain political activities of 501(c)(4) organizations such as ProgCode.
The IRS regulations describe the restricted activities only in general terms, and non-compliance is determined on a case-by-case basis. There is no list of impermissible activities. An infraction could result in financial penalties for ProgCode, as well as the potential loss of tax-exempt status. Therefore, it is important for ProgCode members to be informed about the grey areas of compliance.
The logical place for this information is the ProgCode Community Guidelines, which provide general guidance for other activities within the ProgCode community. Detailed information has been pinned in the #legal channel and in various other community documents, but members should be given a reasonable description of the IRS rules, so that they can identify potential compliance issues.
The ProgCode culture promotes autonomy and assumes that all members will act in conformity with the laws that govern ProgCode. Currently, the guidelines do not provide a means for redressing actions which expose the ProgCode community to liability. At a minimum, the guidelines should provide authority to staff members to protect the tax-exempt status of ProgCode for the benefit of its members and its charitable mission.
501(c)(4) organizations are different from most other tax-exempt charitable organizations, because they are permitted to engage in limited political activities which are not permitted in other tax-exempt formats [e.g., 501(c)(3), 501(c)(6)]
Benefit
This will inform ProgCode members about the limitations which the IRS places on activities that occur within the ProgCode community.
Plan
[ ] Post this pilot initiative and notify the ProgCode community in the #team-announcements and #operations channels.
[ ] Present the issue for discussion at the 01-08-18 Community Operations meeting, and seek consent to proceed, to allow for a one-week period in which members may review this initiative and comment.
[ ] Seek consent to implement at the 01-15-18 Community Operations meeting, for the purpose of amending the ProgCode Community Guidelines to include the final version of the proposed guideline.
Decision Making
As stated above, consent to proceed will be requested at the 01-08-18 Community Operations meeting, and consent to implement will be requested at the 01-15-18 Community Operations meeting.
Optional Information
Reference link(s)
Proposed Amendment to the ProgCode Community Guidelines - Please comment on the document and/or here in this GitHub issue.
Current ProgCode Community Guidelines
Treatise excerpt regarding 501(c)(4) activities
IRS regulation which governs 501(c)(4) organizations: 26 CFR 1.501(c)(4)-1