[hackerspaces] Tax-exempt Geek Group hit with huge tax bill

[Nick Farr (hackerspaces.org)]

Having prepared (and defended) taxes in Michigan, since the collapse of the
Automobile industry--most tax collection agencies in Michigan throw bills
first and ask questions later.

This seems like one of those situations...and you wonder why nobody wants to
do business in MI.

Nick Farr / http://nickfarr.org / 8B13F204
Washington, DC, 20013-1208
P: +1 (707) 676-FARR
F: +1 (866) 536-2616


On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 16:18, Lokkju Brennr <lokkju at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh, I agree there isn't too much real information given in the
> article.  The rep in the video makes it sounds like the city just up
> and charged them huge amounts of back taxes with o warning, which does
> sound far fetched.
> I was hoping someone might have more info on it...
>
> Lokkju
>
> On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 12:53 PM, Christopher J. Pilkington <cjp at 0x1.net>
> wrote:
> > On Tue, Mar 16, 2010 at 06:37:24PM +0000, Loki wrote:
> >>    Non-profit hackerspace [3]The Geek Group has been hit with a hefty
> tax
> >>    bill despite their tax-exempt status. We featured a [4]boom camera
> > [snip]
> >>    for non-profit land holdings before). Thatās why it comes as quite a
> >>    surprise when the township slaps a sticker on the doors giving notice
> >>    of seizure and demanding payment for $47,652.78 in back taxes or the
> >>    assets will be auctioned off. The entire story, from The Geek Groupās
> >
> > Sounds like they just assumed that property taxes don't apply to
> > 501(c)3 organizations.
> >
> > Many states only exempt organizations from property taxes if
> > they are public charities in the strictest sense (with a nice
> > big exemption for houses of worship, who don't seem to have to
> > divulge their finances.)
> >
> > Regardless, one needs to apply for exemption from property tax,
> > his claim that "we're tax-exempt, we don't know a lot about
> > filing taxes" is bogus.
> >
> > The neighboring state of Minnesota has been stripping property
> > tax exemption from child day care centers that are 501(c)3, so I
> > don't find this so far fetched.
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> > http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> >
> >
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