Healthcare Business Operations: Non-Profit Regulations for the Rehab Industry

By: Shobha Lizaso

There has been a growing trend in the substance abuse rehabilitation industry to provide services through a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Unfortunately, there is also a growing trend relating to IRS audits of non-profits. An audit by the IRS can yield many negative outcomes, including the revocation of a treatment center’s tax exempt status and fines imposed on the organization and/or its Directors when the non-profit fails to operate within the rules applicable to 501(c)3 non-profit organizations.

A non-profit may be able to fly under the IRS’s radar for a few years, but as the years pass, the chances that non-profit non-compliance will be caught by the IRS grows exponentially.  To protect your non-profit, please follow some of these basic rules:Continue reading

NonProfit Compliance: Conflicts of Interest Issues Can be Poison

Charity jar
Charity jar

By: Shobha Lizaso

You have a cause that you are passionate about. You have the drive and motivation to put your time and effort behind that cause. You have the dedication to use all of the aforementioned to create a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.  However, once you create the organization, you must also be diligent in protecting your organization’s tax-exempt status.

Like most people who start a non-profit organization, your focus and energy is probably directed towards serving the community rather than performing internal compliance checkups. However, you cannot serve your target community well if your nonprofit is not run in a manner that is compliant with the law.

What happens when the IRS revokes your organization’s nonprofit status? Here are some examples:Continue reading