[Lnc-business] requesting co-sponsors to appeal Chair's ruling

[Scott L.]

Mr.  Executive Director:

 

 

As a Libertarian, would you really want to use a government agency's
definition of "contribution" as binding 

on how we internally treat a transfer of money from a person to the LNC,
Inc?

 

A "penalty" was magically changed into a tax by a Supreme Court "Justice",
so I am not sure I would count on 

the FEC as being a definitive authority on the English Language.

 

 

As I made abundantly clear yesterday, I am not an accounting expert.  But I
will quote from a web site that is an expert in that area:

 

 

http://www.nonprofitaccountingbasics.org/federal-tax-issues/donated-goods-se
rvices

 

 

"Donation or Exchange Transaction?

As defined in SFAS No. 116, a contribution is an unconditional and
nonreciprocal transfer of cash or other assets from one entity to another.
In other words, someone is making a donation to an organization without the
expectation of receiving anything in return besides a possible tax deduction
if the recipient nonprofit is a charity. So, for example, a business donates
used office furniture to the headquarters of a symphony orchestra to use as
they wish.

In contrast, an exchange transaction is a reciprocal transfer between two
entities where each party receives something of approximately equal value.
So, using the same example cited above: a business donates used office
furniture (with a fair value of $800) to the headquarters of a symphony
orchestra and in exchange the orchestra gives the business 4 season tickets
(tickets valued at $200 each) to the orchestra's upcoming performances.

It is also possible that an item could be a partial donation and a partial
exchange transaction. Using the example mentioned earlier, a business
donates used office furniture (with a fair value of $800) to the
headquarters of a symphony orchestra and in exchange the orchestra gives the
business only 2 season tickets (tickets valued at $200 each.) In this
instance, of the $800 of value, half of it ($400) would be a contribution
and the other half ($400) would be an exchange transaction."

 

 

Since we apparently lost money on the 2014 Libertarian National Convention,
it is difficult for me to understand how any revenue from Convention Package
sales could be considered a "donation."

 

 

   Scott Lieberman

 

  _____  

 

 

From: Lnc-business [mailto:lnc-business-bounces at hq.lp.org] On Behalf Of Wes
Benedict
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 7:02 AM
To: lnc-business at hq.lp.org
Subject: Re: [Lnc-business] requesting co-sponsors to appeal Chair's ruling

 

I believe that the bylaw :

 


"3. "Sustaining member" is any Party member who has given at least $25 to
the Party in the prior twelve months, or who is a life member."

 


was added at the 2006 convention. I'm not certain, but I'm thinking maybe
Geoff Neale and Dan Karlan were on the bylaws committee.




 

You might want to ask our FEC consultant if the 2014 convention packages
counted as a "contribution" to the Libertarian National Committee. 

Our 2014 convention registration form, approved by the APRC, said:



*Federal law requires political committees to report the name, address,
occupation, and name of employer for each individual whose contributions
aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year. Political contributions are
not tax deductible.


And Mr. Craig's convention package gift or purchase or whatever you call it
was reported to the FEC. 



Wes Benedict, Executive Director
Libertarian National Committee, Inc. 

 

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