Grassroot Institute of Hawaii tax filing claims no lobbying


Doug White has looked into the tax filings of the Grassroot [sic] Institute of Hawaii, with a link to their 2005 form 990 (PDF) at Guidestar.com, and notes that GRIH claims zero activity under lobbying, yet they reported engaging in activities that clearly seem to fall under the lobbying definition. Seems to me deserving of further scrutiny. And it would be good to check their 2006 filing once it is available.

Update 9/20: Doug follows up with a Hawaii Reporter post from the GRIH in which they state that they are "not explicitly opposed to the Akaka bill," but only to certain provisions or presumed implications or anticipated effects of the bill. Riiiight. But explaining the reasons for their lobbying doesn't make it any less lobbying.

It should be noted that 501c3 nonprofits are not prohibited entirely from lobbying, but from excessive lobbying activities, which can be measured by the Expenditure Test or the Substantial Part Test. In either case, an organization that conducts "excessive lobbying activity" may lose its tax-exempt status, resulting in all of its income being subject to tax. GRIH is allowed to do some lobbying, but the issues seem to be, first, did they falsely report their lobbying activities, and second, were those activities "excessive" by one of the tests.


Posted: Tue - September 18, 2007 at 11:57 AM    
   
 
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Published On: Sep 20, 2007 07:53 AM
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