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3% convenience fee

When they accept less for cash you KNOW they are not reporting it and paying tax - and you have NO RECOURSE if they screw up and you want money back brcause "it didn't happen".

Reply to
Clare Snyder
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You left out the ADP fee. Aditional Dealer Profit. Around here at onetime, may still be around but I have not looked for it, there were two stickers on the windoes. One was more or less from the factory that told about the car and what all was on it. The other was what the dealer did or installed. Most of that was pure profit things like an added rear spoiler for $ 500 that cost them about $ 50, or under coating or a good one is the fabric stain proofing which was a couple of bucks of Scotch Guard they charged a lot for .

You mentioned dealer fees that did not exist decades ago, The must have been before the 1980's or eairler. Maybe they added new ones on, but dealers have been adding in fees long ago.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

Yup - lots of "non-profit" businesses out there - whether intentional or not - - - -

Reply to
Clare Snyder

I do business with a couple of places where the change goes to the NRA :)

Reply to
rbowman

You big asshole, too.

Reply to
Wes Manly

On 3/7/2020 4:46 PM, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: ...

That's not a meaningful statement; the organizing documents for the nonprofit will outline their specific operating parameters.

If the nonprofit then chooses to request IRS determination as to 501(c) status, that is in large part determined by those criteria outlined in the organizing documents which includes what class of individuals/groups are to be served (like (19) are veterans groups, say).

Certain nonprofits are qualified as recipients of tax-deductible contributions w/o filing for 501(c)(3) status mostly churches and governments while almost all others will have to have the IRS determination letter to be qualified nonprofits.

On the "who gets what" side, even the Red Cross that receives a lot of bad press and notoriety manages to use something like 90% of their receipts for purpose.

Reply to
dpb

Some fees I understand. Others are just the cost of doing business and should be in the price. I never pay my bank an ATM fee. OTOH, if I had a store and put in an ATM for customers to use, the cost has to come from someplace so a fee is fair.

The price of products is set to allow the couple percent for CC buyers. They should give cash buyers a discount. I have a rewards card and right now I have about $500 to use any time I want, paid for buy the poor SOB with a 25% interest rate.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I don't mind paying cash when I know what I am getting. Concrete and masonry would be an example. I ordered the materials so I know what they are using and I am on the job so I know how they are doing it. The county is inspecting it. When they get paid, I have what I am paying for.

Reply to
gfretwell

How much do you figure a TV preacher actually gives away?

Reply to
gfretwell

As said, there are bad apples in the barrel; they don't represent but a tiny fraction of nonprofits.

The religious exemption is undoubtedly the easiest one by far with which to game the system.

I'll never deny one needs to be fully aware of to whom one is making a charitable contribution.

Reply to
dpb

And yet many religious charities are the most responsible and transparent.

They are also under very close scrutiny and have many regulations to follow - unless the are american republicans

Reply to
Clare Snyder

I do the smile.amazon thing. It's 0.5% of the price but it doesn't cost me any more. So far I've generated $12.52 for the local homeless shelter. Whoopee.

Reply to
rbowman

No more so than many nonreligious ones as well.

The single-individual/leader style are the ones most likely to be purposed for the benefit of the leader...not that even some of those don't do some good, but there's where a lot of the bad apples are.

...

Nonsense. There's no difference in regulation if they're operating under the 501(c)(3) section of IRS Code; at least in US tax code religious organizations are still exempt/qualified even without that determination from the IRS simply by being able to claim are religious organization. That actually removes them from almost all routine scrutiny including having to file the Form 990--which is why it's the easiest to game.

Until one makes the Jimmy Swaggart mistake or the like to draw attention to and thereby bring down the house of cards around oneself instigating audit or other legal assaults...his problems came initially from the State of Texas suing for taxes on the radio station business portion of the enterprise, not the ministry itself.

Reply to
dpb

It adds up though. I'm up to $71 donated. Took a few years though. I do have a couple of charities and now include the Hospice that helped in my wife's last week. They were amazing. I want them to be able to help others too.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

On 3/7/2020 10:42 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote: ...

There ya' go....that's what the good ones are there for and why deserve the help. And what makes the bad ones so discouraging for the ones that are doing the right things.

--

Reply to
dpb

We had one donor of very limited means who wanted to show her support for mission of scholarships for those also in need. She set up a monthly credit card charge for $20/yr for over twenty years.

You going to ask someone like that to not even though for months w/ few other CC transactions hers might not even pay the fee?

Sweetest lady in the world w/ many problems in her life including having been severely crippled with rheumatoid arthritis from childhood but never at least publicly anything but most upbeat and inspiring person could possibly have been.

Reply to
dpb

I'm not bothered by the 3%, except that I'm cheap enough to not want to pay it, and lazy enough that mailing a check seems like a burden these days. So for the roof I was in a quandary. For the dinner, just curious.

Unlike the roofer, the dinner people didn't offer to come over and get the money. I'm also surprised a) neither mentioned debit cards, the roofer secretary said they charged 3% for debit cards, but the webpage I quoted in another post said "Also says surcharges are legal in Md. and Va. and " keep in mind surcharges are not allowed on debit card or prepaid card purchases at any time," Prepaid cards are like debit cards" The roof is a lot more expensive than the dinner, but otoh, they'll be here doing the roof so I can hand them a check. For the dinner, 3% of $60 is less than 2 dollars.

Rather, it's my ex-gf, who is quick to notice things like this, who said she'd never heard of anyone charging the 3%, and yet two of them showed up in the same week, so I wondered if the law or rules had just changed. Apparently not, and it's just a coincidence.

The dinner is $45 for members and $60 for non-members, so the $15 difference is a contribution I guess.

The member rate is $80 for a couple which means they can do it for $40, so maybe $5 is a contribution, plus the 15 for non-members.

FWIW, a family of 4 is 150, so that's 35 each for the next two, but that doesn't mean the real cost to them is less than 35. They could be losing money. This is NOT a fundraiser IME, and they might be subsidizing it so more people will come. There are certainly many fundraising dinners over the year across the city that are much more money. Children under 6 are $10.

Reply to
micky

Regardless of the merits of those charge, the 3% fee for using a credit card is just what they pay their credit card company for handling my bill. If I don't want to pay that, I can pay with a check or cash. That seems totally fair to me.

If I'm not happy with the price, I can go see another roofer. If it's a car, I can go see another car dealer. Or I can buy a used car, which is what I do. From a private party every time but once. I don't pay dealer prep or any other fee.

Why do they go to work every day? To make my life better? No, because they need to make a living. You try to run a business and make a living. Watch and see how many go bankrupt for one reason or another. They have to charge enough during good times to keep them in business during hard times.

Imagine how many restaurants, hotels, even airlines will be forced out of business becuase of the Covid-19 virus. The ones who aren't are the ones who either saved money before now or can borrow money for later. Either way they have to charge.

Some people get rich, some go broke. There is no dishonor in making money honestly.

Reply to
micky

On 3/8/2020 10:32 AM, micky wrote: ...

Indeed, sounds like just a function unless there's also a silent auction or somesuch associated with the event. If it's just awards presentation or the like, then quite possibly none of it is deductible as a charitable expense; if there is any that is, it'll be so identified on the ticket.

The differing rates are just the little ploys to make more attractive to try to get more to participate; if there are members then there may well be dues to make up more than the difference.

If their intent is for ticket sales to subsidize the whole event, then they've got to factor in the cost of the venue and all as well as just the meal itself.

And, of course, gala fund raisers for the big rollers can go in the thousands -- but you're looking at a whole different class of donors there than the $100 a night crowd.

Reply to
dpb

I did my state taxes yesterday. They really would like you to pay using an eCheck online. There will take online credit cards with a surcharge. Or they will reluctantly take paper checks via snail mail with no additional charge.

I've never used eChecks but as I understand it I get charged for them versus my free paper checking account.

Reply to
rbowman

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