title: The IRS and the Internet: new issues for tax-exempt organizations.
abstract: Tax-exempt healthcare organizations increasingly are using the Internet to provide an inexpensive, easily accessible forum for information exchange, organization publicity, and community-relations programs. A tax-exempt organization that engages in certain activities on its Web site, however, risks losing its tax-exempt status. Such activities may include political messages and lobbying, substantial advertising and other revenue-generating programs, and inappropriate solicitation of charitable contributions. Therefore, providers should carefully monitor all information on their Web sites, including hyperlinks to other Web sites, chat-room and bulletin-board content, and advertisements, to make certain they comply with IRS rules.
authors.affiliation: Health Care Department, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, Detroit, Michigan, USA. ggriffith@honigman.com
authors.forename: Gerald M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Griffith
mesh_terms: D000329:Advertising; D030881:Disclosure; D005653:Fund Raising; D006077:Government Agencies; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D020407:Internet / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011057:Politics; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods*; D019464:Tax Exemption / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States; D014837:Voluntary Health Agencies / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*