Mayo Clinic takes on IRS over status as a school [View all]
The $11.5 million question at the core of Mayo Clinic's lawsuit against the United States is whether the nonprofit operation is primarily a school or a medical center.
Mayo Clinic's position is that it is an "educational organization," which "makes patient care available as a necessary and integral part of its educational activities."
The Internal Revenue Service disagrees and considers Mayo Clinic to be "a parent company of health-care system as its primary purpose and function." That means more of the Mayo Clinic's investment income is taxable, if it is not a school.
In 2009, the IRS audited Mayo Clinic and issued a notice of "adjustment" for the years 2005 and 2006. Those recalculations later expanded to include a total of seven years of Mayo Clinic tax returns 2003, 2005 to 2007 and 2010 to 2012. The years of 2004, 2008 and 2009 were not included, because no income of that type was reported.
Read more: http://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/mayo-clinic-takes-on-irs-over-status-as-a-school/article_bd94a76a-12b3-5624-a4ca-49c0979a1074.html