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[at-l] Legal help needed... Trail Related
The legal issues here can be a bit tricky; also, sales/use tax laws can
vary state-to-state; with those caveats, and the caveat that this is not
my specialty, even here in NC, here are some things to think about:
1) Without a 501(3)(c) approval from the IRS, you are not officially a
charity in the eyes of most taxing authorities. It might be worth
looking into getting set up this way, but there are paperwork headaches
. . .
2) If the local or state tax folks want to press the issue, saying that
you are only taking donations may or may not fly; it just depends on
whether they want to harrass you or help you . . .
3) Your former friend is, of course, running his for profit, so he
probalby HAS gone to the trouble to obtain a sales/use tax ID number,
and is collecting and paying sales/use taxes to the State of TN - thus
he wants to inflict similar pain on you . . . my guess is that he got
caught up in the system due to his little general store business.
4) As "Mother Hen" found out in Boiling Springs, PA, the real killer
can be local zoning laws or state "bed and breakfast" laws, etc. My
guess is that Erwin, TN does not have nearly the same level of ordinance
detail as does Boiling Springs, PA, but you need to be careful here in
light of the fact that you have a clear sour grapes troublemaker just
down the road. The harsh reality is that many of the GOOD people who
help hikers on the AT are violating tons of picky laws that deal with
everything from taxicab services, to hostels, to B&Bs, etc. - but 9
times out of 10, it is not an enforcement issue because people are
operating "below the radar screen," so to speak, and because any decent
public official would look the other way unless a true health hazard
exists.
5) There are legit. health department issues with size of septic
systems, versus people loading rates, etc. and this issue often sneaks
up to affect hiker hostel type places . . .
All in all, the best bet is to have some kind of a good relationship
with some local, public official, and try to quietly seek their help in
working any issues out. Hope the tax guy previously mentioned can offer
more specifics re TN sales/use laws . . .
Best of luck, Miss Janet!
thru-thinker
[a/k/a another darn lawyer!]
Miss Janet wrote:
>
> Do we have a lawyer in the house?
>
> My one time friend here in Erwin has stepped up his efforts to harrass me and cause trouble... Today I was notified that by the Tennessee State Sales Tax office, that a formal complaint had been made that Miss Janet's House is an illegal business... Does anyone know how to collect sales tax on donations? Could this hurt all trail angels and similar hostels on the trail?
>
> Miss Janet
>
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