A for-profit business that forgave a loan to a 501(c)(3) charitable affiliate has lost a $2.9 million charitable contribution deduction because the contemporaneous written acknowledgment letter received from the affiliate did not state whether the donor had received goods or services in return.  

Deed restrictions returning a piece of real estate to a donor if a charitable grantee fails to use the property for a specific charitable purpose can tie up title for many years and create a great uncertainty about the ownership and use of property.  But a claim that a property has not been used for its given purpose which is first raised more than 60 years after the improper use began has failed in Connecticut because of the general rules of adverse possession.

A religious retreat house in Michigan has been denied real estate tax exemption available to “houses of public worship” and was denied the right to amend its application in the middle of an appellate proceeding to seek exemption as a nonprofit charitable institution.  In an unpublished per curiam opinion, the Court of Appeals of Michigan has affirmed the decision of the state’s Tax Tribunal

The value of assets held in donor advised funds throughout the nation rose nearly 10% in 2023, from $228.9 billion in 2022 to $251.5 billion in 2023, reflecting the significant increase in market value of investments during the year.  (The S&P 500 Index was up 26.3% for the year.). But the total value of contributions to DAFs dropped more than 21% from $75.9 billion in 2022 to $59.4 billion in 2023.

In one of the more unusual cases of the year, churches in West Virginia have regained the right to incorporate under state law, apparently the last state in the nation to confirm that right.