ALERT: American Legion Eligibility Record Keeping

*** Please Distribute ***

Please  provide a copy of your DD214/Membership Eligibility  to the Adjunct at tonight's meeting.   We are having a "records drive" of sorts over the next few months to comply with certain IRS regulations.  The regulation' stipulates that we must meet examination requirements for exempt organizations under Internal Revenue Code IRC §501(c)(19) Veterans Organizations.

Our exempt status is largely maintained by the membership eligibility itself.  We would be required to show eligibility documentation for any member if, by chance, were are requested to participate in an IRS Examination.

  

Here is a snippet of the IRS Examination (Audit) Guidelines:

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4.76.26.8  (01-27-2011) IRC §170(c)(3)

1. IRC §170(c)(3) provides an income tax deduction for contributions to a post of" war veterans" (or an auxiliary unit of said organization) if it is organized in the United States or any of its possessions, and no part of its net earnings inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. To qualify for deductibility of contributions, a veterans' organization may be exempt under IRC §501(c)(19) or any other appropriate section of the Code, but must also satisfy both a membership requirement and a purpose requirement.

2. To meet the membership requirement, at least 90% of the members must be war veterans. In addition, substantially all the other members must be either veterans (but not war veterans), or cadets, spouses, widows, or widowers of war veterans, veterans or cadets. For the purpose of the 90% test, war veterans may include members of expeditionary forces who actually served in combat situations in foreign countries between the periods of war as defined below.

   Note:  The war veterans membership requirements are outlined in Treasury Regulation §1.501(c)(19)-1, which has not been updated to reflect changes made to IRC §501(c)(19) by the Military Family Tax Relief Act of 2003, which expanded the membership categories to include two degrees of consanguinity.

3. A war veteran is a person who served in the Armed Forces of the United States during the following periods:

   • April 21, 1898, through July 4, 1902;

   • April 6, 1917, through November 11, 1918;

   • December 7, 1941, through December 31, 1946;

   • June 27, 1950, through January 31, 1955;

   • February 28, 1961, through May 7, 1975, in the case of a veteran who served in the Republic of Vietnam during that period;

   • August 5, 1964, through May 7, 1975, and

   • August 2, 1990, and will end on the date prescribed by Presidential Proclamation or by law.

     Note: The definitions of the periods of war are listed in 38 CFR 3.2.

4. A war veterans' organization must also be organized and operated primarily for the following narrower purposes:

   1. Furthering comradeship among persons who are or have been members of the Armed Forces,

   2. Honoring the memory of deceased veterans and members of the Armed Forces and aiding and comforting their survivors,

   3. Encouraging patriotism, and

   4. Aiding hospitalized, disabled, and needy war veterans and their dependents.

The full IRS Examination Guidelines text link: http://www.irs.gov/irm/part4/irm_04-076-026.html 

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We will make a similar request prior to the December meeting.

Thank you for your attention in this matter,

Ben

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Ben Adair
Commander
American Legion Post 290
Dripping Springs TX