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From: ins_aame@jhunix.UUCP (Andrew Marti Elizaga)
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.taxes,net.religion,net.politics
Subject: Re: RE. Scopes II (non-profit corps and churches)
Message-ID: <3419@jhunix.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 21-Aug-86 10:03:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: jhunix.3419
Posted: Thu Aug 21 10:03:41 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 21-Aug-86 22:29:05 EDT
References: <1069@bu-cs.bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Reply-To: ins_aame@jhunix.ARPA (Andrew Marti Elizaga)
Organization: Johns Hopkins Univ. Computing Ctr.
Lines: 42
Xref: mnetor net.legal:3324 net.taxes:544 net.religion:2729 net.politics:9299

In article <1069@bu-cs.bu-cs.BU.EDU> bzs@bu-cs.BU.EDU (Barry Shein) writes:
>>A non-profit corporation is roughly defined as a corporation that does not pay
>>money to the stockholders.  (Yes, if Exxon stopped distributing its dividends,
>>that would make it a non-profit corporation.  And a darn poor investment.
>
>Not to knit picks, but I'm, still not satisfied with this definition. Many
>if not most of the corporations on the OTC don't pay dividends, but I don't
>think that makes them non-profit....

A non-profit corporation is one that *will not* pay dividends.  A company
merely internalizing profits this year does not make it non-profit.  However,
once a company has promised never to pay dividends, the rest is red tape.
(I.e. apply to the Secretary of State using Form F00-b-AR,...)

Can you think of a better way to see if the owners are trying to make a profit
on their companies?

If you knew that Exxon (or the companies on the OTC) would *never* pay money to
the stockholders, (it says in the articles of incorporation that it/they won't)
they'd be pretty poor investments, unless you can count on their stock prices
always going up.

>One way to look at it is, it's not that the government gives
>special exemption to the churches and universities, it's that they
>have no right to tax them. Must they have absolute power to tax over
>everyone?

The government has whatever powers it claims to have.  Who's going to overrule
"the government"?  If the American pee-pul (god bless their pointy little heads)
decide that churches should be taxes, they'll be taxed.  And I'll never return
to Utah from that point on.

>Subtle I guess, but worth a thought.
Good point.

>	-Barry Shein, Boston University


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