Fringe is Tax Exempt

I suppose it’s not exactly common for your heart to jump with joy when the IRS calls.

Expressing this to the IRS contact overseeing the approval process for our tax exempt application, she mused: “yes, usually people are pretty excited when they hear from me.”

Excited indeed. This represents a big leap for us. After hours and hours slaving away on the epic form to apply for tax exemption, we received the official notification today. If you give money to Los Angeles’ first Fringe Festival, you can write it off on your taxes (deduct it from your gross earnings to lower your tax liability).

OK, so on the surface, that doesn’t exactly sound earth shattering. In reality, this designation represents the keys to the kingdom for many of the plans we have brewing. Many grants won’t even listen to you if you don’t have this little baby. Additionally, a lot of financially-savvy individuals (who worry about things like tax write-offs) are significantly more compelled to donate to a tax-exempt institution. And finally, this certification provides a sense legitimacy and gravitas to the organization. Always, good….

Having this far advance of the festival’s premiere is a big boon for us. Without a decent financial and legal apparatus behind us, we could hardly achieve our goals. Special thanks to fringers Bryan Burgess and Dave McKeever for making this a reality. Many evenings parsing IRS regulations (not exactly fun like fiction) lead to this day.

(Hatchery Arts, a tax-exempt non-profit does business in California as the Hollywood Fringe Festival)