The host parents of a foreign exchange student are not liable for damages arising from the skiing death of the student, even if they committed ordinary negligence in failing to warn about risks on the mountain, a federal District Court in Montana has held.  They are protected against liability by both the federal and state Volunteer Protection Acts.  (Waschle v. Winter Sports, D. MT, No. CV 13-309, 9/4/15.) 

An appellate court in Utah has ruled that a nonprofit homeowners’ association is not required to provide anything more than the names and addresses of other members upon request of a member and is not required to give email addresses or telephone numbers held by the association.  (Walker I Investments v. Sunpeak Association, Ct. of App., UT, No. 20140085-CA, 8/27/15.) 

The Department of Justice found evidence of mismanagement, poor judgment and institutional inertia in the Internal Revenue Service’s handling of applications for 501(c)(4) tax-exemption by Tea Party and other politically oriented organizations but no evidence that any IRS official acted based on political, discriminatory, corrupt or other inappropriate motives that would support a criminal prosecution.  The conclusion was recently set forth in a letter dated October 23 from the DOJ to the Chair and ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The federal District Court in the District of Columbia has affirmed the retroactive revocation of charitable exemption of a scholarship foundation that operated for the private benefit of a single family.

The Internal Revenue Service has proposed a new tax form to provide an alternative means for donors to substantiate gifts of $250 or more to charities.  (See Ready Reference Page:  IRS Requires Substantiation of Contributions”)  It has proposed to allow charities to file a new form listing the name and address of the donor, the donor’s taxpayer identification number, the amount of cash or a description of other property donated, whether any goods or services were give

The Internal Revenue Service has given new approval to mission related investments by private foundations and spelled out specific requirements for making “good faith determinations” that grants to foreign organizations are qualifying distributions that don’t require expenditure responsibility.