CHAPTER 9

Social Clubs: § 501(c)(7)

§ 9.4 Revenue Tests

(a) 35/15 Test

*(c) Gift Tax for Club Gifts (New)

§ 9.4 Revenue Tests

(a) 35/15 Test

*p. 197.Add footnote to first sentence at top of page:

62.1 IRS 1982 CPE Text, Social Clubs, page 1; also see Hopkins, The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations (10th ed., 2011), § 15.4 Exceptions to Limitations on p. 396.

*p. 198. Add new subsection:

(c) Gift Tax for Club Gifts (New)

A gift tax question arises when a club conducts a capital campaign to raise funds to construct a new building or remodel or expand existing facilities, to retire debt, or to pay for other expenditures beyond the recurring club operations. Such payments are not made for membership privileges or other services and reasonably can be said to be gifts. To the extent the payment does not exceed the annual exclusion for the gift tax,1 no gift tax is imposed.

In one instance, a member and spouse proposed to make gifts to a club for the purpose of retiring the debt recently incurred for capital expenditures and funding new capital improvements, and asked the IRS if the gifts qualified for the annual gift tax exclusion. The club was said to be operated solely for nonprofitable purposes, including the recreation, enjoyment, education, and entertainment of its members, and not for the economic benefit of its members; therefore the IRS concluded that the club met the exception for gifts to a “charitable, public, political or similar organization(s).”2 Thus the club was treated ...

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