This was originally published on PAOO on August 19th, 2010.
This was a really great denial of exempt status.
I made an offer in Facebook that I would write on a subject chosen by whoever would first comment on one of my blog posts. I hadn’t expected that the winner would be someone who is almost as much of a tax nerd as I am. He asked me to comment on NSAR 1698, which was issued in 1992. It’s one of those things that Research Institute uses the Freedom of Information Act to pry from the IRS so we have something to read after we have read all the rulings and procedures and decisions that are meant to be public. I haven’t looked up what the acronym stands for (Nothing Sacred After Reagan ?Maybe). It doesn’t really matter. It is a letter denying an organization exempt status.
My friend maintains that it should stand for the proposition that the IRS should be able to tell some people that they just can’t have exempt status and really shouldn’t have to give them a detailed explanation. Personally I disagree. Somebody who goes to the trouble of applying for exempt status is entitled to a good explanation. Furthermore, any policy which has the effect of placing really humourous material just waiting to be discovered is a good policy. If you think there is no humor in this area see my post on Free Fertility Inc.
So what was NSAR 1698 (whatever it might stand for) all about ? It seems that there is an advanced race known as the Pleiadians who are speaking to us through a particular person. She had started a business to disseminate their teachings and the proposed NFP was to carry the teachings further along. It is some pretty interesting stuff :
“The Pleiadians of are a collective of extraterrestrials from the star system the Pleiades. The Pleiadian culture is ancient and was ‘seeded’ from another universe of love long before Earth was created. They have formed a tremendous society which operates with love, with ideas and ideals that we are yet unfamiliar with. The Pleiadians call themselves our ancient family because many of us come here from the Pleiades to participate in the new experiment of Earth. The Pleiadians are now here as ambassadors from another universe to help Earth through her difficult transition from the third dimension to the fourth dimension and to assert each of us in our personal endeavors of awakening, remembering and knowing”.
Apparently though, the Pleidans are only speaking to one person. The IRS ruled that passing along the revelations could not be considered to constitute education within the meaning of 501(c)((3). They were also concerned that there was no change in control.
I actually found the IRS answer somewhat unsatisfying. It is also a bit of a disappointment that the ruling wasn’t appealed. The Tax Court can be quite eloquent in addressing these type of things. At least I thought they were in Free Fertility. You’ll be glad to know that failure to gain exempt status has not silenced the Pleiadians. You can read all about them at http://pleiadians.net/ (Notice its .net not .org).
It is interesting to note that the Pleidians have a specific instruction to not turn their teachings into a religion or worship the people who are channelling them. I don’t know if they thought through how this might affect their channeller’s chances of gaining exempt status.
I’m going to further extend my offer to write on anything that is requested by someone who comments on the blog. This one was fun anyway.