We have all enjoyed what Scott made Blazer Bash into. I have tried to continue the same for the last couple of years. But things are going to have to change.
I am writing this so there are not any ambiguous rumors or fake news as to what is going on. I want everyone to be informed and I like to be up front. This is our event, not my event.
Recently I received notifications that Trail Productions (the 501(c)(4) business name we have been operating the event under since 2009) had not filed tax forms with the state of Colorado. Scott was unaware that Trail Productions was not set up correctly with the State of Colorado and the Feds. He also did not realize that he was supposed to be filing sales tax reports.
My wonderful wife, who I sent to school for accounting, has been working to bring us in compliance. We are done with Colorado and paid the small penalty and Scott is sending a letter to the feds to shut things down from that end. We should not have any repercussions from that. That being said, Trail Productions will no longer exist.
In reference to the notice Colorado recently sent us; it turns out, we were supposed to be charging sales tax on the event runs and t-shirts.
So what Eileen and I have decided to do is run the event through our company after this year.
3W Fabrication will be a sponsor for hosting the event. Nothing will change for the regular sponsors as they could not write off the donations to a 501(c)(4) which is basically a "club" designation. Most sponsors write it off as advertising anyways.
What does this mean for you as a participant? Prices are going up to cover the sales tax of 9.25%. The average cost this year including trails and t-shirts was just under $110. So that would be $120 next year. We are going to stick with round numbers and back the tax out so Scott does not have to create sales tax code in PayPal. Trying to keep it as simple as possible.
What do I get out of it for hosting the event? Many headaches. A lot of sleepless nights. Phone calls for days. And a free t-shirt. I can also write off my fuel. The event has to run as a no profit event or I have to pay income tax on it. And I refuse to pay the government any more than necessary.
Please do not respond with "well my club does it like this". We have found that most clubs are working incorrectly. My wife now works for an accountant. The one third of the clients are non-profit. To get around all of this, we would have to start a new club going through the IRS non-profit process which can take a year and cost a couple of thousands of dollars. Would have annual dues and a minimum of quarterly meetings, with a maintained roster, meeting minutes, voted in board of directors and all kinds of other legal crap. I do not want to deal with that. Paying Tennessee sales tax is already being done through my business and we would just add this on.
Thanks for your time.
I am writing this so there are not any ambiguous rumors or fake news as to what is going on. I want everyone to be informed and I like to be up front. This is our event, not my event.
Recently I received notifications that Trail Productions (the 501(c)(4) business name we have been operating the event under since 2009) had not filed tax forms with the state of Colorado. Scott was unaware that Trail Productions was not set up correctly with the State of Colorado and the Feds. He also did not realize that he was supposed to be filing sales tax reports.
My wonderful wife, who I sent to school for accounting, has been working to bring us in compliance. We are done with Colorado and paid the small penalty and Scott is sending a letter to the feds to shut things down from that end. We should not have any repercussions from that. That being said, Trail Productions will no longer exist.
In reference to the notice Colorado recently sent us; it turns out, we were supposed to be charging sales tax on the event runs and t-shirts.
So what Eileen and I have decided to do is run the event through our company after this year.
3W Fabrication will be a sponsor for hosting the event. Nothing will change for the regular sponsors as they could not write off the donations to a 501(c)(4) which is basically a "club" designation. Most sponsors write it off as advertising anyways.
What does this mean for you as a participant? Prices are going up to cover the sales tax of 9.25%. The average cost this year including trails and t-shirts was just under $110. So that would be $120 next year. We are going to stick with round numbers and back the tax out so Scott does not have to create sales tax code in PayPal. Trying to keep it as simple as possible.
What do I get out of it for hosting the event? Many headaches. A lot of sleepless nights. Phone calls for days. And a free t-shirt. I can also write off my fuel. The event has to run as a no profit event or I have to pay income tax on it. And I refuse to pay the government any more than necessary.
Please do not respond with "well my club does it like this". We have found that most clubs are working incorrectly. My wife now works for an accountant. The one third of the clients are non-profit. To get around all of this, we would have to start a new club going through the IRS non-profit process which can take a year and cost a couple of thousands of dollars. Would have annual dues and a minimum of quarterly meetings, with a maintained roster, meeting minutes, voted in board of directors and all kinds of other legal crap. I do not want to deal with that. Paying Tennessee sales tax is already being done through my business and we would just add this on.
Thanks for your time.
