Announcement 2009-17

This announcement is a public notice of the suspension under section 501(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of the federal tax exemption of a certain organization that has been designated as supporting or engaging in terrorist activity or supporting terrorism. Contributions made to an organization during the period that the organization’s tax-exempt status is suspended are not deductible for federal tax purposes.

The federal government has designated a number of organizations as supporting or engaging in terrorist activity or supporting terrorism under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and the United Nations Participation Act of 1945. Federal law prohibits most contributions to organizations that have been so designated.

Section 501(p) of the Code was enacted as part of the Military Family Tax Relief Act of 2003 (P. L. 108-121), effective November 11, 2003. Section 501(p)(1) suspends the exemption from tax under section 501(a) of any organization described in section 501(p)(2). An organization is described in section 501(p)(2) if the organization is designated or otherwise individually identified (1) under certain provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act as a terrorist organization or foreign terrorist organization; (2) in or pursuant to an Executive Order which is related to terrorism and issued under the authority of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act or section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 for the purpose of imposing on such organization an economic or other sanction; or (3) in or pursuant to an Executive Order issued under the authority of any federal law, if the organization is designated or otherwise individually identified in or pursuant to the Executive Order as supporting or engaging in terrorist activity (as defined in the Immigration and Nationality Act) or supporting terrorism (as defined in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act) and the Executive Order refers to section 501(p)(2).

Under section 501(p)(3) of the Code, suspension of an organization’s tax exemption begins on the date of the first publication of a designation or identification with respect to the organization, as described above, or the date on which section 501(p) was enacted, whichever is later. This suspension continues until all designations and identifications of the organization are rescinded under the law or Executive Order under which such designation or identification was made.

Under section 501(p)(4) of the Code, no deduction is allowed under any provision of the Internal Revenue Code for any contribution to an organization during any period in which the organization’s tax exemption is suspended under section 501(p). Thus, for example, no charitable contribution deduction is allowed under section 170 (relating to the income tax), section 545(b)(2) (relating to undistributed personal holding company income), section 556(b)(2) (relating to undistributed foreign personal holding company income), section 642(c) (relating to charitable set asides), section 2055 (relating to the estate tax), section 2106(a)(2) (relating to the estate tax for nonresident aliens) and section 2522 (relating to the gift tax) for contributions made to the organization during the suspension period.

On February 11, 2009, the organization listed below was designated under Executive Order 13224, entitled “Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions With Persons Who Commit, Threaten To Commit, or Support Terrorism.”

The organization whose tax exemption has been suspended under section 501(p) and the effective date of such suspension are listed below. Contributions made to this organization during the period of suspension are not deductible for federal tax purposes.

An organization whose exempt status has been suspended under section 501(p) does not file Form 990 and is required to file the appropriate Federal income tax returns for the taxable periods beginning on the date of the suspension. The organization must continue to file all other appropriate federal tax returns, including employment tax returns, and may also have to file federal unemployment tax returns.

For additional information regarding the designation or identification of an organization described in section 501(p)(2), contact the Compliance Division at the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department at 202-622-2490. Additional information is also available for download from the Office’s Internet Home Page at http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/

For additional information regarding the suspension of the federal tax exemption of an organization under section 501(p), contact Ward L. Thomas at (202) 283-8913 at the Internal Revenue Service.