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Tuesday, April 16, 2024
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GiftLaw Pro |
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GiftLaw Note:
Taxpayer wants to implement a scholarship program. The scholarship program will make 52 grants annually, one in each state plus two additional grants. Each selected student will receive $10,000 for qualified education expenses. However, 10 national winners will each receive $15,000, a computer and an intern position with Taxpayer.
Foundation will administer all aspects of Taxpayer's scholarship program. An independent selection committee within Foundation will identify each state's winner. The committee will award grants based on a wide array of academic and non-academic factors. All awards will be made by Foundation on a nondiscriminatory and objective basis. Finally, the scholarships are not intended to benefit children of a particular Taxpayer's employees.
Taxpayer requests a ruling that the scholarship grants by Foundation will not be taxable expenditures under Sec. 4945.
After reviewing the detailed selection process, the Service ruled that the procedures for awarding the scholarship grants by Foundation met the tax expenditure exception. In short, the grants would be made on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis. The Service noted that the scholarships are not employer-related grants. Moreover, no grants would be made to Foundation's creators, officers, directors or trustees.
The Service, therefore, held that distributions from Foundation made in accordance with the scholarship program would not constitute taxable expenditures under Sec. 4945. Accordingly, Taxpayer may implement the scholarship program without fear of any excise tax imposed upon Foundation.
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Dear Sir or Madam:
This is in reference to a letter dated September 4, 2002, requesting advance approval of your grant procedures under section 4945(g) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The information submitted indicates that grants will be administered and supervised by B. B is exempt from Federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and has been classified as other than a private foundation under sections 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi).
Your scholarship program is called C. Under the terms of an agreement, you will make annual contributions to B to benefit fifty-two students (one per each state and E and F) who will be selected to receive $10,000 scholarships. From these winners, ten national winners will be identified to receive additional awards at $15,000 each. The ten national winners will also receive a computer and an offer of a paid internship with D. An independent review panel, through the B selection process, will choose the winners at the state level. It is contemplated that you will be given the opportunity to select the ten national winners from a "name blind" pool of twenty state winners. In selecting winners, consideration will be given to students' demonstrated achievement in a non-academic environment, academic record and potential, leadership and participation in school and community activities, work experience, statement of education and career goals, unusual personal or family circumstances, and recommendations. Nonacademic achievement will be weighted at 75 percent, with academic achievement at 25 percent. Applicants will be United States citizens or legal residents who are in their senior year of high school and plan to enroll full-time in an accredited two-year or four-year college or university in the United States.
B will prepare and furnish application forms, receive all applications, determine the recipients and amount to be awarded, notify the recipients of the award, confirm enrollment in an educational institution, make payment of the award, and supervise and investigate the use of the grant funds by the recipients in their educational programs. Recipients are determined solely by B utilizing selection criteria whereby each candidate is evaluated based on the following: scholastic aptitude as measured by performance on the scholastic aptitude test; scholastic performance measured by rank in class; counselor appraisal; and interests, activities and leadership contributions. In addition, financial need is taken into consideration. The C program does not involve scholarships granted to children of employees of a particular company.
Scholarships will only be awarded to students that plan to enroll in an institution that meets the requirements of section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) of the Code. The recipient will not be restricted in his/her course of study.
[Section 4945 of the Code provides for the imposition of taxes on each taxable expenditure of a private foundation.
Section 4945(d)(3) of the Code provides that the term "taxable expenditure" means any amount paid or incurred by a private foundation as a grant to an individual for travel, study, or other similar purposes by such individual, unless such grant satisfies the requirements of section 4945(g).
Section 4945(g)(1) of the Code provides that section 4945(d)(3) shall not apply to an individual grant awarded on an objective and nondiscriminatory basis pursuant to a procedure approved in advance by the Secretary, if it is demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the grant constitutes a scholarship or fellowship grant which is subject to the provisions of section 117(a) and is to be used for study at an educational institution described in section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii).
Because your scholarships are not employer-related grants, the provisions of Rev. Proc. 76-47 are not applicable.
[Based upon the information submitted, and assuming your program will be conducted as proposed, with a view to providing objectivity and nondiscrimination in the awarding of scholarship grants, we rule that your grants to B for the awarding of scholarship grants comply with the requirements of section 4945(g)(1) of the Code. Expenditures made in accordance with these procedures will not constitute "taxable expenditures" within the meaning of section 4945(d)(3) of the Code, and as such are eligible for the exclusion from income provided for in section 117(a) of the Code to the extent that such grants are actually used for qualified tuition and related expenses within the meaning of section 117(b)(2) of the Code.
This ruling is conditioned on the understanding that there will be no material changes in the facts upon which it is based. It is further conditioned on the understanding that no grants will be awarded to your organization's creators, officers, directors, trustees, or members of the selection committee, or for a purpose inconsistent with the purposes described in section 170(c)(2)(B) of the Code.
The approval of your grant-making procedures is a one time approval of your system of standards and procedures for selecting recipients of grants that meet the requirements of section 4945(g)(1) of the Code. Thus, approval will apply to succeeding grant programs only as long as the standards and procedures under which they are conducted do not differ materially from those described in your request.
We are informing the * * * TE/GE office of this action. Please keep a copy of this ruling with your organization's permanent records.
This ruling is directed only to the organization that requested it. Section 6110(k)(3) of the Code provides that it may not be used or cited as precedent.
If you have any questions about this ruling, please contact the person whose name and telephone number are shown in the heading of this letter.
Sincerely,
Gerald V. Sack
Manager, Exempt Organizations
Technical Group 4
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