The District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a Tax Court decision denying a charitable contribution deduction of $33 million because the taxpayer didn’t include the cost basis and date of acquisition of the donated property on the Form 8283 claiming the deduction.  (See Nonprofit Issues^®, May 2017)  The Court of Appeals said it “should be very reluctant to set to naught [the information requirement] that Congress deemed essential.”

Members of a Masonic/Scottish Rite organization lost their standing to bring a derivative suit on behalf of the organization against several of its officers when the members lost their membership rights and started a competing organization.  An appellate court in Tennessee has ruled that the plaintiffs could not fairly represent the interests of the remaining members of the original organization when they had started a new one.

When a foundation was administratively dissolved shortly before the death of a donor, it was not in a position to receive the residue of a trust that was designated for another charity if the foundation was “no longer in existence” on the donor’s death.  Despite the fact that the foundation was reinstated under state law “as of the effective date” of the dissolution, a Court of Appeal of Florida has affirmed a trial court decision denying the residue to the foundation.

The IRS has recognized the Internet as a valid means of communication for private schools seeking to publicize their required non-discrimination policies. 

A federal District Court in Minnesota has dismissed a suit by an alumnus of St. John’s University seeking to recover a gift he claimed was “mishandled” in the University’s endowment fund.