Michael J. Huft

Counsel

Michael J. Huft concentrates his practice in the area of nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations. He is experienced in all aspects of exempt organization law, including:

• Assisting numerous start-up organizations with incorporation (or establishment of trust) and obtaining exemption; with state law compliance issues (e.g., charitable registration including use of unified registration statement, sales tax exemption and collection, raffle registration, reporting requirements, and employee-related registration and reporting) and follow-up with Form 8734 filing.
• Counseling large and small organizations, including universities, religious organizations, professional associations, hospitals and health care organizations, on all aspects of the unrelated business income tax, including
  • Complex real estate transactions (commercial development, leasing, sales)
  • Royalty agreements
  • Income from controlled corporations
  • Corporate sponsorships
  • Fundraising activities
  • Providing insurance
  • Medical research activities
  • Other business or quasi-business activities
• Counseling private foundations (including charitable remainder and charitable lead trusts) on excise tax issues, including extensive experience with:
  • Self-dealing issues
  • Excess business holdings
  • Political and lobbying expenditures
  • Scholarships
  • Foreign expenditures and grant-making and other taxable expenditure issues
  • Program-related investments
  • Jeopardizing investments
  • Minimum distributions
  • Section 4940 excise tax
• Counseling exempt organizations with respect to mergers, split-ups (especially private foundations), establishment of for-profit subsidiaries, conversion from trust to corporate form, early termination of charitable remainder trusts.
• Working with private operating and non-operating foundations, educational institutions, churches, publicly supported charities, supporting organizations, social clubs, business leagues, cooperative organizations, and other non-charitable exempt organizations. Public charity experience also includes involvement in the following representative areas:
  • Scientific research
  • Arts
  • Music
  • Theater
  • Museums
  • Academic accreditation
  • Journalism
  • Services to disabled persons
  • Economic development
  • Affordable housing
  • Relief of poverty
  • Services to youth
  • General community support
  • Health care
• Preparing requests for private letter rulings, including follow-up meetings with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) examiners in Washington.
• Providing research and drafting support in litigation matters involving tax-exempt organizations.
• Handling numerous other issues relating to tax-exempt organizations, including
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Governance and structural issues
  • Compensation
  • Creation and management of endowments
  • Fundraising
  • Planned giving programs
  • Grantmaking procedures
  • Preparing and reviewing annual financial reports
  • Counseling with respect to private inurement and excess benefit rules

Publications

"IRS Ruling Provide Guidance on Early Termination of CRUTs," Estate Planning (January 2003)

"Asset Protection and Dynasty Trusts," Real Property, Probate and Trust Journal (Summer 2002)

"Assessing Charitable Reverse Split-Dollar Arrangements" Trusts and Estates (November 1998)

Education

Clerkships

Honorable Paul E. Plunkett, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (1995-1996)