Suzanne Ross McDowell Quoted in Chronicle of Philanthropy

Suzanne Ross McDowell was quoted in the February 7, 2008 issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, in an article titled, A Question of Calculation. The article discusses the Chronicle's findings in it's recently released review of the largest charity organizations' most recent 990-T tax forms.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported: "Suzanne Ross McDowell, a lawyer in Washington and a former Treasury Department official, says that, 'when you determine what losses or expenses you are going to allocate to unrelated-business income, the regulations leave a lot of room to determine what you think is a reasonable allocation, and these are questions on which reasonable people could come to different conclusions.'

She added: 'There is not a lot of guidance out there, so organizations may come to the reasonable conclusions that help their bottom line.'"

"As organizations have gotten more sophisticated, said Ms. McDowell, increasingly 'exempt organizations may be seeking advice from tax advisers and structuring business activities to take advantage of the royalty exclusion, which is absolutely fine. It’s good tax planning.'"

To view this article online, please visit the The Chronicle of Philanthropy's website.