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Ending Payout as We Know It: A Conceptual and Comparative Perspective on the Payout Requirement for Foundations

George Mason University

The payout requirement that the Tax Reform Act of 1969 imposed on foundations has come up for debate again over the past few years and a tightening of the requirement was proposed in Congress in 2003. Hypothetically applying corresponding German rules to Ford Foundation data, this article suggests that U.S. regulation of foundation spending policies is already stricter than elsewhere and that much of the current policy debate has little to do with the original intentions of the requirement. Reevaluating the underlying rationale of the policy, the article concludes with a proposal to introduce time limits to the payout requirement

Key Words: foundations • payout requirement • comparative regulation • Germany

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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 4, 729-738 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0899764004269318


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Toepler, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?