Additional questions have been raised about the non-profit and tax-exempt status of the Small Farmers Association, a highly vocal Mendocino County cannabis group. The organization continues to claim, via social media, to be a 501(c)(3) non-profit group but, as detailed in a TWN article of last week, no records could be found in the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) publicly searchable database of nonprofit organizations, and an employer identification number (EIN), a number issued by the IRS to keep track of various organizations, provided by the group matched no organization in the IRS’s database.
After press time last week TWN followed up with the State of California’s Franchise Tax Board (FTB). The FTB is the state agency responsible for collecting personal and corporate income taxes, and as such keeps records on and determines if entities qualify as non-profits.
According to Brian Wooten, principle compliance representative in the executive and advocate services office of the FTB, “They [the Small Farmers Association] didn’t even lose their tax exempt [non-profit] status because they didn’t even have it.” He explained that the FTB has no record of the SFA even attempting to get a non-profit status, let alone being granted one. Even their corporation status is currently suspended for a failure to file returns. Said Wooten, “They didn’t file any returns, didn’t pay any balances, basically did nothing.”
Wooten summed up, “These folks were suspended due to the fact that they have not filed any returns or paid any taxes…it appears that they never received exempt status….so right now, as we speak, they would be treated as a normal corporation and they would have a minimum tax due.”
The minimum tax due by a corporation in California is $800 per year, owed to the state.
One of the sticking points in interviews with the group’s “representative” Julia Carrera, was whether or not the association was an advocacy group. Carrera claim that their mission was purely education, not political, and that they do not directly advocate or hold policy positions. However, she has appeared before the board of supervisors in her capacity as a representative of the group, and Supervisor Tom Woodhouse made it clear that she has advocated to him on several occasions.
The association still has made no specific response to Friday’s article. After calls and emails to both SFA Board President Noel Manners, and Carrera, Manners responded with an email stating simply, “No comment.”
However, the SFA did make a few posts to its Facebook page over the weekend. A post made Saturday night reads, “Very thankful for our farmers…[sic]and our accurate EIN number, and 501(c)3 designation!”
Non-profit organizations are required to file annual paperwork, generally a 990 form or variation, to retain their non-profit, tax-exempt status. Such forms, which detail much of the financial activity of a non-profit, are publicly available on the IRS’s website.
The EIN provided by the SFA last week did not match any in the IRS database. Since then the SFA has not provided any alternative number, or correction. As of presstime they have still provided no information explaining these discrepancies.
A Facebook post made late Sunday night on the SFA page reiterated the claim to 501(c)(3) status, reading, “Yep! The Small Farmers Association Farmers are the indigenous people of the producer counties in Northern California! And they are working hard as a 501(c)3 organization to create a positive future for all Small Farmers!”
