Letter to IRS questions NHRA's tax status

[Sweaty Teddy]

http://competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/16540-letter-to-irs-questions-nhra-tax-status

http://www.dragracingonline.com/analysis/xiii_1-irs-1.html

A yet to be named party has hired a Washington D.C. based law firm to request that the Internal Revenue Service look into the Not For Profit 501(c) status of the National Hot Rod Association.

Link to the letter from law firm of Caplin & Drysdale requesting the IRS’s Lois Lerner, Director of Exempt Organizations Division, investigate the 501(c) status of the NHRA.

The question of NHRA's tax status has been a topic of conversation in drag racing circles for years. Now apparently they've pissed off the wrong person or persons to the point that they've decided to get the IRS involved. I don't know who hired this law firm, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was Don Schumacher, as his teams have had some strange run-ins with the NHRA the past few years.

This one should get interesting.

[FTHurley]

http://competitionplus.com/drag-raci...hra-tax-status

http://www.dragracingonline.com/analysis/xiii_1-irs-1.html

A yet to be named party has hired a Washington D.C. based law firm to request that the Internal Revenue Service look into the Not For Profit 501(c) status of the National Hot Rod Association.

Link to the letter from law firm of Caplin & Drysdale requesting the IRS’s Lois Lerner, Director of Exempt Organizations Division, investigate the 501(c) status of the NHRA.

The question of NHRA's tax status has been a topic of conversation in drag racing circles for years. Now apparently they've pissed off the wrong person or persons to the point that they've decided to get the IRS involved. I don't know who hired this law firm, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was Don Schumacher, as his teams have had some strange run-ins with the NHRA the past few years.

This one should get interesting.

Wait a second, the NHRA is a non-profit?

[Sweaty Teddy]

Wait a second, the NHRA is a non-profit?

According to the NHRA they are. NHRA has traditionally been seen as an organization made up of members working toward the common goal of promoting drag racing (unlike NASCAR or IndyCar, anyone can "join" the NHRA, whether they are a competitor or not, and anyone can race just about anything at your local NHRA sanctioned track.)

The problem becomes how the professional elements of drag racing are treated and how NHRA has worked to go up against NASCAR, IndyCar, etc. There was an attempt a couple years ago to sell off this professional (for profit) portion of the NHRA to a group of investors. That sale didn't happen but the officers continue to act as if it did.

[FTHurley]

According to the NHRA they are. NHRA has traditionally been seen as an organization made up of members working toward the common goal of promoting drag racing (unlike NASCAR or IndyCar, anyone can "join" the NHRA, whether they are a competitor or not, and anyone can race just about anything at your local NHRA sanctioned track.)

The problem becomes how the professional elements of drag racing are treated and how NHRA has worked to go up against NASCAR, IndyCar, etc. There was an attempt a couple years ago to sell off this professional (for profit) portion of the NHRA to a group of investors. That sale didn't happen but the officers continue to act as if it did.

Thanks. Yeah, that's weird.

[Sweaty Teddy]

And it makes me wonder how SCCA handles these things. SCCA, like NHRA, is primarily a membership organization but does also sanction professional racing. Granted, SCCA Pro Racing's best days are behind it, but I'm sure they figured out something. I know that IHRA separated its (presumably non-profit) Sportsman series from its Professional (presumably for profit) Nitro Jam Series.