CFR > Title 26 - Internal Revenue > CHAPTER I—INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY > SUBCHAPTER A—INCOME TAX (Parts 1–19) > PART 1—INCOME TAXES > 1.509(a)-5—Special rules of attribution.

1.509(a)-5—Special rules of attribution.

(a) Retained character of gross investment income. (1) For purposes of determining whether an organization meets the not-more-than-one-third support test set forth in section 509(a)(2)(B), amounts received by such organization from:
(i) An organization which seeks to be described in section 509(a)(3) by reason of its support of such organization; or
(ii) A charitable trust, corporation, fund, or association described in section 501(c)(3) (including a charitable trust described in section 4947(a)(1)) or a split interest trust described in section 4947(a)(2), which is required by its governing instrument or otherwise to distribute, or which normally does distribute, at least 25 percent of its adjusted net income (within the meaning of section 4942(f)) to such organization, and such distribution normally comprises at least 5 percent of such distributee organization's adjusted net income

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will retain their character as gross investment income (rather than gifts or contributions) to the extent that such amounts are characterized as gross investment income in the possession of the distributing organization described in subdivision (i) or (ii) of this subparagraph or, if the distributing organization is a split interest trust described in section 4947(a)(2), to the extent that such amounts would be characterized as gross investment income attributable to transfers in trust after May 26, 1969, if such trust were a private foundation. For purposes of this section, all income which is characterized as gross investment income in the possession of the distributing organization shall be deemed to be distributed first by such organization and shall retain its character as such in the possession of the recipient of amounts described in this paragraph. If an organization described in subdivision (i) or (ii) of this subparagraph makes distributions to more than one organization, the amount of gross investment income deemed distributed shall be prorated among the distributees.
(2) For purposes of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph, amounts paid by an organization to provide goods, services, or facilities for the direct benefit of an organization seeking section 509(a)(2) status (rather than for the direct benefit of the general public) shall be treated in the same manner as amounts received by the latter organization. Such amounts will be treated as gross investment income to the extent that such amounts are characterized as gross investment income in the possession of the organization spending such amounts. For example, X is an organization described in subparagraph (1)(i) of this paragraph. It uses part of its funds to provide Y, an organization seeking section 509(a)(2) status, with certain services which Y would otherwise be required to purchase on its own. To the extent that the funds used by X to provide such services for Y are characterized as gross investment income in the possession of X, such funds will be treated as gross investment income received by Y.
(3) An organization seeking section 509(a)(2) status shall file a separate statement with its return required by section 6033, setting forth all amounts received from organizations described in paragraph (a)(1) (i) or (ii) of this section.
(b) Relationships created for avoidance purposes. (1) If a relationship between an organization seeking section 509(a)(3) status and an organization seeking section 509(a)(2) status:
(i) Is established or availed of after October 9, 1969, and
(ii) One of the purposes of establishing or utilizing such relationship is to avoid classification as a private foundation with respect to either organization, the character and amount of support received by the section 509(a)(3) organization will be attributed to the section 509(a)(2) organization for purposes of determining whether the latter meets the one-third support test and the not-more-than-one-third support test under section 509(a)(2). If a relationship described in this subparagraph is established or utilized by an organization seeking section 509(a)(3) status and two or more organizations seeking section 509(a)(2) status, the amount of support received by the former organization will be prorated among the latter organizations and the character of each class of support (as defined in section 509(d)) will be attributed pro rata to each such organization. The provisions of this paragraph and of paragraph (a) of this section are not mutually exclusive.
(2) In determining whether a relationship between one or more organizations seeking section 509(a)(2) status (hereinafter referred to as beneficiary organizations) and an organization seeking section 509(a)(3) status (hereinafter referred to as the supporting organization) has been established or availed of to avoid classification as a private foundation (within the meaning of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph), all pertinent facts and circumstances, including the following, shall be taken into account as evidence that a relationship was not established or availed of to avoid classification as a private foundation:
(i) The supporting organization is operated to support or benefit several specified beneficiary organizations.
(ii) The beneficiary organization has a substantial number of dues-paying members (in relation to the public it serves and the nature of its activities) and such members have an effective voice in the management of both the supporting and beneficiary organizations.
(iii) The beneficiary organization is composed of several membership organizations, each of which has a substantial number of members (in relation to the public it serves and the nature of its activities), and such membership organizations have an effective voice in the management of the supporting and beneficiary organizations.
(iv) The beneficiary organization receives a substantial amount of support from the general public, public charities, or governmental grants.
(v) The supporting organization uses its funds to carry on a meaningful program of activities to support or benefit the beneficiary organization and such use would, if such supporting organization were a private foundation, be sufficient to avoid the imposition of any tax upon such organization under section 4942.
vi) The supporting organization is not able to exercise substantial control or influence over the beneficiary organization by reason of the former's receiving support or holding assets which are disproportionately large in comparison with the support received or the assets held by the latter.
(vii) Different persons manage the operations of the beneficiary and supporting organizations and each organization performs a different function.
(3) The provisions of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following examples:

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Example 1. M, an organization described in section 509(a)(2), is a council composed of 10 learned societies. Each member society has a large membership of scholars interested in a particular academic area. In 1970 M established N, an organization seeking section 509(a)(3) status, for the purpose of carrying on research and study projects of interest to the member societies. The principal source of funds for N's activities is from foundation and government grants and contracts. The principal source of funds for M's activities after the creation of N is membership dues. M continued to maintain a wide variety of activities for its members, such as publishing periodicals and carrying on seminars and conferences. N is subject to complete control by the governing body of M. Under these circumstances, the relationship between these organizations is not one which is described in subparagraph (1) of this paragraph.

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Example 2. Q is a local medical research organization described in section 509(a)(2). Its fixed assets are negligible and it carries on research activities on a limited scale. It also makes a limited number of grants to scientists and doctors who are engaged in medical research of interest to Q. It receives support through small government grants and a few research contracts from private foundations. R is an organization described in section 501(c)(3). As of January 1, 1970, R was classified as a private foundation under section 509. It has a substantial endowment which it uses to make grants to various charitable and scientific organizations described in section 501(c)(3). During 1970, R agrees to subsidize the research activities of Q. R amends its governing instrument to provide specifically that all of R's support will be used for research activities which are approved and supervised by Q. R also amends its bylaws to permit a minority of Q's board of directors to be members of R's governing body. R then gives timely notification under section 507(b)(1)(B)(ii) that R is terminating its private foundation status by meeting the requirements of section 509(a)(3) by the end of the 12-month period described in section 507(b)(1)(B)(i). For purposes of determining whether R has met the requirements of section 509(a)(3) by the end of the 12-month period, as well as determining Q's status under section 509(a)(2), the character and amount of support received by R will be attributed to Q.
(c) Effect on organizations claiming If an organization claiming section 509(a)(2) status fails to meet either the one-third support test or the not-more-than-one-third support test under section 509(a)(2) by reason of the application of the provisions of paragraph (a) or (b) of this section, and such organization is one of the specified organizations (within the meaning of section 509(a)(3)(A)) for whose support or benefit an organization claiming section 509(a)(3) status is operated, the organization claiming section 509(a)(3) status will not be considered to be operated exclusively to support or benefit one or more section 509(a) (1) or (2) organizations.

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[T.D. 7212, 37 FR 21922, Oct. 17, 1972, as amended by T.D. 7290, 38 FR 31834, Nov. 19, 1973; T.D. 7784, 46 FR 37890, July 23, 1981]