2013 Presentations (Communicative Events)

Exempt Entities as Government Contractors: Regulation Through Cooperative Federalism

Hill, Frances R.

The role of exempt entities as government contractors highlights the complexity of exempt entities’ relationships with numerous government regulatory agencies administering diverse bodies of law at both the federal and state levels. Exempt entities’ roles as government contractors can be neither understood nor regulated solely, or even primarily, in terms of their tax status. Activities undertaken as government contractors and the way those activities are pursued may be consistent or inconsistent with federal and/or state requirements for exemption from taxation. But, compliance with tax law requirements does not establish compliance with other bodies of law or establish that the entity can provide the expertise required to implement government programs or that its actual operations are consistent with its contractual obligations. A regulatory framework for exempt entities that contract with federal and/or state governments must take account of both contract performance in substantive terms and continuing qualification for exemption from federal and state taxation.