Compliance - Legal - Copyright

Navigation Games abides by the following externally imposed rules:

• Federal law

• Massachusetts law

• Local law

• Orienteering USA policies

Summary of required filings

See this spreadsheet for list of reports that need to be filed, most recent filing dates and other information.

Federal

• Form 990 - May 15

  • The federal 990 report, or IRS Form 990, is an annual information return submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by tax-exempt organizations to report their financial activities, governance, and operations.💡 

  • Core Purposes

    • Compliance: Verifies the organization qualifies to keep its tax-exempt status.

    • Transparency: Provides the public and donors with financial and leadership data.

    • Oversight: Helps regulators track revenue, expenses, and executive compensation.

  • Types of Form 990

    • Form 990: Filed by larger organizations with gross receipts over $200,000 or assets over $500,000.

      • Form 990-EZ: Short-form return for smaller organizations.

      • Form 990-N: Simple electronic postcard notice for the smallest nonprofits.

  • Filing date: Due on the 15th day of the fifth month after the fiscal year ends (May 15)

  • Note: The filled forms are available for anyone to view online. Failing to file for three straight years causes automatic loss of tax-exempt status

State

• MA PC - May 15

  • Massachusetts Form PC is the annual financial report that public charities operating or soliciting funds in the state must file with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office (AGO).

  • Virtually all public charities organized, operating, or raising money in Massachusetts need to file the report. (Exempt: Organizations that hold property exclusively for religious purposes and certain federally chartered organizations.)

  • The form captures organization details and mission statement. Financial data, gross support, and revenue. Compensation information and highest-paid consultants or employees. Related-party transactions and fundraising activities.

  • Filers must submit Form PC electronically through the Massachusetts Charity Portal.

  • Deadline: Due 4.5 months after the close of the organization's fiscal year (for example, May 15 for a calendar-year nonprofit).

  • Required attachments: Includes federal tax returns (such as IRS Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF) and financial statements or audits when revenue thresholds are met.

• MA Annual Report - Nov 1

  • A Massachusetts annual report is a mandatory yearly filing submitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth - Corporations Division to keep registered business entities—such as LLCs and corporations—in active, good standing.

  • The report updates the state on your business address, principal office, and management or officer details.

  • It verifies that your business remains active and compliant. It prevents administrative dissolution or the loss of liability protections.

  • Nonprofit Corporations: Generally due annually on or before November 1st.

• Change of Directors 

  • In Massachusetts, updating leadership changes is handled by the Secretary of the Commonwealth - Corporations Division via a Certificate of Change of Directors or Officers

  • The official corporate filing is used to report changes in a corporation's directors, president, treasurer, or clerk/secretary 

  • Non-profit corporations file under M.G.L. c. 180, § 6D

  • File whenever a leadership change happens. 

• Form ST-9: Sales and Use Tax Return - Jan 30

  • Used by vendors to report gross sales, calculate taxable sales, and remit state sales and use taxes.

  • Report on our sales of kits and rental of equipment in MA

  • Filing Requirements:

    • Over $1,200 annual liability: File monthly

    • $101 to $1,200 annual liability: File quarterly

    • $100 or less annual liability: File annually

  • Electronic filing via MassTaxConnect is mandatory for most business tax types.

Local

• City of Cambridge Business Certificate - Next filing: Feb 14, 2028

  • A business certificate must be filed for any person, partnership, or corporation conducting business in Cambridge under a name other than their own. The form must be signed before a Notary Public.

  • Business certificates are valid for four years and must be renewed at the City Clerk's Office.

Federal Law

Through our payroll service Gusto, we withhold all required payroll taxes. Gust remits those taxes to the IRS and files payroll tax forms. 

Massachusetts Law

Payroll and related taxes

Through our payroll service Gusto, we withhold all required taxes. Gust remits those taxes to the Massachusetts DOR and files payroll tax forms. As of September 2019, we are up to date on all payroll tax forms and withholding. There is a new law coming into effect requiring paid family leave and payroll withholding to pay for it. Navigation Games will need to withhold and remit those taxes, and on 9/18/19 we got confirmation from Gusto that they will take care of this for us.

A new Paid Family and Medical Leave account has been created for you. You will use this account to remit your applicable employer and employee contributions for the program.

We received this from the state of MA in September 2019:

Your new Paid Family and Medical Leave Account ID is PFM-18462784-004. The address for the account is 116 HENRY ST CAMBRIDGE MA 02139-4729

You can access your new account on MassTaxConnect using your existing username and password. You can read more about the Paid Family and Medical Leave program by visiting https://www.mass.gov/DFML.

The first quarterly return for period ending December 31, 2019 is due on January 31, 2020. You will be required to report quarterly and year-to-date wages for each of your employees and covered contract workers. Only wages paid after October 1, 2019 should be reported on your 2019 returns. Do not include wages paid prior to October 1, 2019. 

Sales tax

Here is our ST-2 certificate of exemption from paying sales tax from MA that we got in 2017. We need to renew it before it expires on 8/3/2027. Our taxpayer ID is 18462784. 

To be exempt from paying sales tax for items we use for our mission (as opposed to fundraising), we must fill out Form TA1 and submit it with a copy of the IRS exemption letter to the MA Bureau of sales Excise of the DoR. To be exempted from income tax, mail a photocopy of the confirmation letter to the Corporate Exemptions Division of MA DoR. To be exempt from property taxes, fill out form 3ABC and send to the local assessor along with the confirmation letter. Directive 91-1 (Tax Exempt Organizations Engaging in Fundraising Activities) addresses the following:

• Sales of tangible personal property made by tax exempt organizations for fundraising purposes are subject to sales tax when they are made in the regular course of the organization's business. Generally, this applies when such sales are made at more than two fundraising events in a calendar year. 

• Tax exempt organizations must register as vendors and collect sales tax when their sales are made in the regular course of business. The tax exempt organization must pay sales tax to their vendors for tangible personal property purchased to sell at fundraising events not in the regular course of business.

Generally, as long as we are acting in furtherance of our tax exempt purposes, the Internal Revenue Code generally does not prohibit or restrict our income-generating activities. However, income unrelated to our tax exempt purposes is taxed at prevailing corporate rates. There are additional specific exclusions, even if it is difficult to show that income is related to the organization's purposes. For example, if substantially all the work in selling the products is performed by volunteers, then the income is not taxable. The sale of contributed property (the "thrift shop exception") is excluded from taxation. Service sofr hte convenience of members, employees and patrons (including gift shops, restaurants and parking lots), and certain low cost items (T shirts, knick-knacks). You risk losing your exempt status if a substantial percent of the income is from activities unrelated to your tax exempt purposes. You may want to consider establishing a for-profit subisdiary. An example of activities that are OK: a Friends of the Library group makes a profit from a lecture series featuring famous authors and from an annual volunteer-run sale of donated books. However, if the group starts buying books from other dealers and reselling to the public, that becomes unrelated business activity, particularly if there are employees dedicated cataloging these books and managing the sales. That suggests to me that sale of kits may become an issue if it becomes large, and should become a for-profit subsidiary. 

Some advice suggests asking for donations rather than charging a specific fee. (Museums do this.) Note that hospitals and educational institutions are nonprofit but still sell goods and services. To support their operating costs and staff, nonprofits must generate revenue. There is some indication that after coverating operating costs, the surplus must come from activities related to the mission. Girl Scouts aren't taxed for cookie sales because selling cookies teaches girls practical life skills.

MassTaxConnect

https://mtc.dor.state.ma.us/mtc/_/#2

• 1/25/21: outstanding items; emailed Gusto to ask about them.

Local Law

Our CORI Policy is aligned with that of Cambridge, and we have so indicated to Cambridge.

We have a separate shared drive for CORI records, accessible only to the President, CORI officer (currently Katia Bertoldi), and our Google administrators.

Orienteering USA policies

OUSA policies are listed here. The key policies are:

• Background check policy

• Abuse and misconduct policy

• Communication and privacy policy: we must provide a confidential contact list of two key individuals: the club president and another. 

• Day membership policy: any participant who signs a waiver at one of our events will automatically become a day member of OUSA if they are not already a member. 

• Land use policy: We operate within all legal environmental standards and within any framework agreed upon with land managers. No long-term damage to animals, plants, landscape or archaeological features. Temporary damage no longer discernable after 3 months of a growing season. No litter, equipment or extraneous material after an event. Cooperate with land managers to provide special protection where a venue contains vegetation, wildlife, or features of special sensitivity. This policy includes map making, event scheduling, course design and event management sections. This policy needs to be read and understood by our employees, perhaps at an annual re-onboarding event. There is good information in here on the impact of orienteering on the environment. 

• OUSA provides waivers that we should use at our events.

• Sponsorship policy: Note that this provides an opportunity for income for the person who obtains and manages the sponsorship, of 10%.

• Terms and conditions of use, for the website.

• Club Charter Fees: Annually, Navigation Games needs to pay a fee to OUSA. See this folder and these instructions for how to calculate.

DMCA Safe Harbor Provisions

References:

• DMCA Safe Harbor Explained: Why Your Website Needs a DMCA/Copyright Policy - Overview from a law firm

Notes:

• If someone copies, distributes, performs, or displays another party’s copyrighted content without their authorization, this is copyright infringement. Copyright owners can sue those who infringe on their copyright. 

• A website can be immune from liability if it abides by the Safe Harbor provisions set out in Section 512 of the DMCA.

• Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Safe Harbor provisions carve out a protection for websites that passively host user content. 

• To comply with the notice and takedown procedure, the website must:

  • Create a DMCA Policy and provide it to the site’s users (usually in the site’s Terms of Use),

  • Expeditiously remove infringing material or block access on proper notice, and

  • Implement a counter-notice process (optional).

• The DMCA covers U.S. copyright only, not trademark, patent, defamation or foreign copyright. However, it is not uncommon for a website to voluntarily provide DMCA-like notice and take down procedures for all intellectual property claims.

• [Add commentary around renewal of DMCA Copyright, every 3 years