Tax on Unrelated Business Income of Exempt Organizations

An exempt organization is not taxed on its income from an activity that is substantially related to the charitable, educational, or other purpose that is the basis for the organization's exemption. Such income is exempt even if the activity is a trade or business.

However, if an exempt organization regularly carries on a trade or business that is not substantially related to its exempt purpose, except that it provides funds to carry out that purpose, the organization is subject to tax on its income from that unrelated trade or business.

This publication covers the rules for the tax on unrelated business income of exempt organizations. It explains:

1. Which organizations are subject to the tax (chapter 1),
2. What the requirements are for filing a tax return (chapter 2),
3. What an unrelated trade or business is (chapter 3), and
4. How to figure unrelated business taxable income (chapter 4).

All section references in this publication are to the Internal Revenue Code.

See chapter 5 for information about getting these publications and forms.