Re: Fund Raising and Scout Accounts
GMarmet@AOL.COM
Fri, 30 Jul 1999 11:22:29 EDT
> Next thing you know, I'll have to do withholding, FICA, etc. on my son's
> allowance!
> > jhs8@OKSTATE.EDU wrote:
> > Peter,
> > I asked a local IRS friend (who's also a scouter) this question a few
> weeks ago.
O.K., I have left this one alone but I want to avoid having people be
frightened unnecessarily. The Internal Revenue Code, as amended, is a
marvelous legal document. It is, perhaps, the most comprehensive bit of
legislative drafting ever created. It does however have a few problems.
First of all it cannot cover, in explicit detail, every human endeavor
involving gain; therefore there are interpretation issues. Second of all, it
attempts to cover, in generality, every human endeavor involving gain;
therefore there are interpretation issues.
Much of what has been said about income of Scouts vis a vis "Scout Accounts"
is undoubtedly true on a theoretic basis, but is unlikely to be pursued by
agents of the Internal Revenue Service (unless of course they get a bee under
their bonnets about something).
You have to understand that the Internal Revenue Code can cover a whole lot
of stuff it is not now used to cover. Recall that a transaction as simple as
trading a piece of gum for pencil is a taxable transaction- gain here is
measured for the pencil on the worth of the gum less the cost of the pencil,
and vice-versa for the gum.
The Code is not however, now, used to go after the things which are talked
about. Could it? Probably. Will it? Probably not. Though of course,
having made this pronouncement, some Agent somewhere will go against some
Scout Troop.
Yours very truly,
G. John Marmet
Attorney/CPA/Scouter
