IRS Says Friends of Lulu in Danger of Losing Tax-Exempt Status

Friends of Lulu logo

As I feared, Friends of Lulu is in danger of losing its tax-exempt status as a charitable organization. At the end of June, the IRS released a “List of Organizations at Risk of Automatic Revocation of Tax-Exempt Status”, and as shown here, Friends of Lulu is on it. (Click for bigger version. Link no longer available.)

Revocation list excerpt

That’s an excerpt from the NY list posted by the IRS. As described, “the list includes organizations for which the IRS does not have a record of a required annual filing for 2007 and 2008, and whose 2009 return, due on or after May 17 and before October 15, 2010, has not yet been received.”

If you gave money to Friends of Lulu since 2007 and you took a tax exemption, don’t fear. “Donors to section 501(c)(3) organizations may rely on the organization’s determination letter or listing in Publication 78 to deduct contributions until the IRS publishes notice on IRS.gov that the organization’s 501(c)(3) exempt status has been automatically revoked.” So we’ll have to check back with the IRS in late October to see what happens.

The helpful anonymous reader who tipped me to this IRS news also pointed out that the list includes the “Professional Association of Comics Entertainment Retailers”, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. That’s PACER, a comic retailer trade organization that disappeared a while back. (I only remember them because reviewer, now retailer, Randy Lander was once representing them. The last online reference I could find was a note about their meeting in San Diego in 2001.) Its role has since been taken over by ComicsPRO.



2 comments

  • Gail Simone

    I am sad to hear of Lulu’s troubles. No matter where things went wrong, a lot of people worked terribly hard on it.

    I think it could probably still be saved. I have tried to contact the management but have not heard back.

  • I hope it is saved. Certainly, they’re not the only charitable organization caught by the changed IRS laws. I’m wishing the best for them, although I obviously can’t volunteer to help at this point.

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