What sorts of organizations are exempt from federal income taxes?

Summary:

The Internal Revenue Code specifies many sorts of exempt organizations besides the familiar 501(c)(3). Donations to most other types, though, cannot be deducted from the donor's income taxes. The IRS website offers a complete list.

Answer:

The IRS lists all the different types of exempt organizations on three pages:

• 501(c)(3): http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/index.html
  
• Other common types: http://www.irs.gov/charities/nonprofits/content/0,,id=132157,00.html
  
• Less common types: http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=96184,00.html
  

Eric Mercer has annotated this list and added useful links. His
table is at
http://www.muridae.com/nporegulation/documents/exempt_orgs.html (this page was last updated in 1999).

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Here's the actual text of the relevant section of the tax code,
posted by Forrest Howe (fhowe@LASIERRA.EDU) on May 29, 1998,
in the mailing list charitylaw which comes from the CharityChannel
(see http://www.charitychannel.com/):
The following organizations are referred to in subsection (a):

(1)Any corporation organized under Act of Congress which is an
instrumentality of the United States but only if such corporation--

(A) is exempt from Federal income taxes--

(i) under such Act as amended and supplemented before July 18, 1984,
or

(ii) under this title without regard to any provision of law which
is not
contained in this title and which is not contained in a revenue Act,
or

(B) is described in subsection (l).

(2) Corporations organized for the exclusive purpose of holding
title to
property, collecting income therefrom, and turning over the entire
amount
thereof, less expenses, to an organization which itself is exempt
under
this section. Rules similar to the rules of subparagraph (G) of
paragraph
(25) shall apply for purposes of this paragraph.

(3) Corporations, and any community chest, fund, or foundation,
organized
and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific,
testing for
public safety, literary, or educational purposes, or to foster
national or
international amateur sports competition (but only if no part of its
activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or
equipment), or
for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, no part of the
net
earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder
or
individual, no substantial part of the activities of which is
carrying on
propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence legislation
(except as
otherwise provided in subsection (h)), and which does not
participate in,
or intervene in (including the publishing or distributing of
statements),
any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any
candidate for
public office.

(4)

(A) Civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but
operated
exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, or local
associations of
employees, the membership of which is limited to the employees of a
designated person or persons in a particular municipality, and the
net
earnings of which are devoted exclusively to charitable,
educational, or
recreational purposes.

(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to an entity unless no part of
the
net earnings of such entity inures to the benefit of any private
shareholder or individual

(5) Labor, agricultural, or horticultural organizations.

(6) Business leagues, chambers of commerce, real-estate boards,
boards of
trade, or professional football leagues (whether or not
administering a
pension fund for football players) not organized for profit and no
part of
the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private
shareholder
or individual.

(7) Clubs organized for pleasure, recreation, and other
nonprofitable
purposes, substantially all of the activities of which are for such
purposes and no part of the net earnings of which inures to the
benefit of
any private shareholder.

(8) Fraternal beneficiary societies, orders, or associations--

(A) operating under the lodge system or for the exclusive benefit of
the
members of a fraternity itself operating under the lodge system, and

(B) providing for the payment of life, sick, accident, or other
benefits
to the members of such society, order, or association or their
dependents.

(9) Voluntary employees' beneficiary associations providing for the
payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to the members of
such
association or their dependents or designated beneficiaries, if no
part of
the net earnings of such association inures (other than through such
payments) to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual.

(10) Domestic fraternal societies, orders, or associations,
operating
under the lodge system--

(A) the net earnings of which are devoted exclusively to religious,
charitable, scientific, literary, educational, and fraternal
purposes, and

(B) which do not provide for the payment of life, sick, accident, or
other
benefits.

(11) Teachers' retirement fund associations of a purely local
character, if--

(A) no part of their net earnings inures (other than through payment
of
retirement benefits) to the benefit of any private shareholder or
individual, and

(B) the income consists solely of amounts received from public
taxation,
amounts received from assessments on the teaching salaries of
members, and
income in respect of investments.

(12)

(A) Benevolent life insurance associations of a purely local
character,
mutual ditch or irrigation companies, mutual or cooperative
telephone
companies, or like organizations; but only if 85 percent or more of
the
income consists of amounts collected from members for the sole
purpose of
meeting losses and expenses.

(B) In the case of a mutual or cooperative telephone company,
subparagraph
(A) shall be applied without taking into account any income received
or
accrued--

(i) from a nonmember telephone company for the performance of
communication services which involve members of the mutual or
cooperative
telephone company,

(ii) from qualified pole rentals,

(iii) from the sale of display listings in a directory furnished to
the
members of the mutual or cooperative telephone company, or

(iv) from the prepayment of a loan under section 306A, 306B, or 311
of the
Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (as in effect on January 1, 1987).

(C) In the case of a mutual or cooperative electric company,
subparagraph
(A) shall be applied without taking into account any income received
or
accrued--

(i) from qualified pole rentals, or

(ii) from the prepayment of a loan under section 306A, 306B, or 311
of the
Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (as in effect on January 1, 1987).

(D) For purposes of this paragraph, the term "qualified pole rental"
means
any rental of a pole (or other structure used to support wires) if
such
pole (or other structure)--

(i) is used by the telephone or electric company to support one or
more
wires which are used by such company in providing telephone or
electric
services to its members, and

(ii) is used pursuant to the rental to support one or more wires (in
addition to the wires described in clause (i)) for use in connection
with
the transmission by wire of electricity or of telephone or other
communications.

For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term "rental" includes
any
sale of the right to use the pole (or other structure).

(13) Cemetery companies owned and operated exclusively for the
benefit of
their members or which are not operated for profit; and any
corporation
chartered solely for the purpose of the disposal of bodies by burial
or
cremation which is not permitted by its charter to engage in any
business
not necessarily incident to that purpose and no part of the net
earnings of
which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or
individual.

(14)

(A) Credit unions without capital stock organized and operated for
mutual
purposes and without profit.

(B) Corporations or associations without capital stock organized
before
September 1, 1957, and operated for mutual purposes and without
profit for
the purpose of providing reserve funds for, and insurance of shares
or
deposits in--

(i) domestic building and loan associations,

(ii) cooperative banks without capital stock organized and operated
for
mutual purposes and without profit,

(iii) mutual savings banks not having capital stock represented by
shares, or

(iv) mutual savings banks described in section 591(b).

(C) Corporations or associations organized before September 1, 1957,
and
operated for mutual purposes and without profit for the purpose of
providing reserve funds for associations or banks described in
clause (i),
(ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (B); but only if 85 percent or more
of the
income is attributable to providing such reserve funds and to
investments.
This subparagraph shall not apply to any corporation or association
entitled to exemption under subparagraph (B).

(15)

(A) Insurance companies or associations other than life (including
interinsurers and reciprocal underwriters) if the net written
premiums (or,
if greater, direct written premiums) for the taxable year do not
exceed
$350,000.

(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), in determining whether any
company
or association is described in subparagraph (A), such company or
association shall be treated as receiving during the taxable year
amounts
described in subparagraph (A) which are received during such year by
all
other companies or associations which are members of the same
controlled
group as the insurance company or association for which the
determination
is being made.

(C) For purposes of subparagraph (B), the term "controlled group"
has the
meaning given such term by section 831(b)(2)(B)(ii).

(16) Corporations organized by an association subject to part IV of
this
subchapter or members thereof, for the purpose of financing the
ordinary
crop operations of such members or other producers, and operated in
conjunction with such association. Exemption shall not be denied any
such
corporation because it has capital stock, if the dividend rate of
such
stock is fixed at not to exceed the legal rate of interest in the
State of
incorporation or 8 percent per annum, whichever is greater, on the
value of
the consideration for which the stock was issued, and if
substantially all
such stock (other than nonvoting preferred stock, the owners of
which are
not entitled or permitted to participate, directly or indirectly, in
the
profits of the corporation, on dissolution or otherwise, beyond the
fixed
dividends) is owned by such association, or members thereof; nor
shall
exemption be denied any such corporation because there is
accumulated and
maintained by it a reserve required by State law or a reasonable
reserve
for any necessary purpose.

(17)

(A) A trust or trusts forming part of a plan providing for the
payment of
supplemental unemployment compensation benefits, if--

(i) under the plan, it is impossible, at any time prior to the
satisfaction of all liabilities, with respect to employees under the
plan,
for any part of the corpus or income to be (within the taxable year
or
thereafter) used for, or diverted to, any purpose other than the
providing
of supplemental unemployment compensation benefits,

(ii) such benefits are payable to employees under a classification
which
is set forth in the plan and which is found by the Secretary not to
be
discriminatory in favor of employees who are highly compensated
employees
(within the meaning of section 414(q)), and

(iii) such benefits do not discriminate in favor of employees who
are
highly compensated employees (within the meaning of section 414(q).
A plan
shall not be considered discriminatory within the meaning of this
clause
merely because the benefits received under the plan bear a uniform
relationship to the total compensation, or the basic or regular rate
of
compensation, of the employees covered by the plan.

(B) In determining whether a plan meets the requirements of
subparagraph
(A), any benefits provided under any other plan shall not be taken
into
consideration, except that a plan shall not be considered
discriminatory--

(i) merely because the benefits under the plan which are first
determined
in a nondiscriminatory manner within the meaning of subparagraph (A)
are
then reduced by any sick, accident, or unemployment compensation
benefits
received under State or Federal law (or reduced by a portion of such
benefits if determined in a nondiscriminatory manner), or

(ii) merely because the plan provides only for employees who are not
eligible to receive sick, accident, or unemployment compensation
benefits
under State or Federal law the same benefits (or a portion of such
benefits
if determined in a nondiscriminatory manner) which such employees
would
receive under such laws if such employees were eligible for such
benefits, or

(iii) merely because the plan provides only for employees who are
not
eligible under another plan (which meets the requirements of
subparagraph
(A)) of supplemental unemployment compensation benefits provided
wholly by
the employer the same benefits (or a portion of such benefits if
determined
in a nondiscriminatory manner) which such employees would receive
under
such other plan if such employees were eligible under such other
plan, but
only if the employees eligible under both plans would make a
classification
which would be nondiscriminatory within the meaning of subparagraph
(A).

(C) A plan shall be considered to meet the requirements of
subparagraph
(A) during the whole of any year of the plan if on one day in each
quarter
it satisfies such requirements.

(D) The term "supplemental unemployment compensation benefits" means
only--

(i) benefits which are paid to an employee because of his
involuntary
separation from the employment of the employer (whether or not such
separation is temporary) resulting directly from a reduction in
force, the
discontinuance of a plant or operation, or other similar conditions,
and

(ii) sick and accident benefits subordinate to the benefits
described in
clause (i).

(E) Exemption shall not be denied under subsection (a) to any
organization
entitled to such exemption as an association described in paragraph
(9) of
this subsection merely because such organization provides for the
payment
of supplemental unemployment benefits (as defined in subparagraph
(D)(i)).

(18) A trust or trusts created before June 25, 1959, forming part of
a
plan providing for the payment of benefits under a pension plan
funded only
by contributions of employees, if--

(A) under the plan, it is impossible, at any time prior to the
satisfaction of all liabilities with respect to employees under the
plan,
for any part of the corpus or income to be (within the taxable year
or
thereafter) used for, or diverted to, any purpose other than the
providing
of benefits under the plan,

(B) such benefits are payable to employees under a classification
which is
set forth in the plan and which is found by the Secretary not to be
discriminatory in favor of employees who are highly compensated
employees
(within the meaning of section 414(q)),

(C) such benefits do not discriminate in favor of employees who are
highly
compensated employees (within the meaning of section 414(q)). A plan
shall
not be considered discriminatory within the meaning of this
subparagraph
merely because the benefits received under the plan bear a uniform
relationship to the total compensation, or the basic or regular rate
of
compensation, of the employees covered by the plan, and

(D) in the case of a plan under which an employee may designate
certain
contributions as deductible--

(i) such contributions do not exceed the amount with respect to
which a
deduction is allowable under section 219(b)(3),

(ii) requirements similar to the requirements of section
401(k)(3)(A)(ii)
are met with respect to such elective contributions,

(iii) such contributions are treated as elective deferrals for
purposes of
section 402(g) (other than paragraph (4) thereof), and

(iv) the requirements of section 401(a)(30) are met.

For purposes of subparagraph (D)(ii), rules similar to the rules of
section 401(k)(8) shall apply. For purposes of section 4979, any
excess
contribution under clause (ii) shall be treated as an excess
contribution
under a cash or deferred arrangement.

(19) A post or organization of past or present members of the Armed
Forces
of the United States, or an auxiliary unit or society of, or a trust
or
foundation for, any such post or organization--

(A) organized in the United States or any of its possessions,

(B) at least 75 percent of the members of which are past or present
members of the Armed Forces of the United States and substantially
all of
the other members of which are individuals who are cadets or are
spouses,
widows, or widowers of past or present members of the Armed Forces
of the
United States or of cadets, and

(C) no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of
any
private shareholder or individual.

(20) An organization or trust created or organized in the United
States,
the exclusive function of which is to form part of a qualified group
legal
services plan or plans, within the meaning of section 120. An
organization
or trust which receives contributions because of section
120(c)(5)(C) shall
not be prevented from qualifying as an organization described in
this
paragraph merely because it provides legal services or
indemnification
against the cost of legal services unassociated with a qualified
group
legal services plan.

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Posted June 5, 1998; 4/12/01; IRS link updated 2/13/06 --PB