Is it feasible for me to purchase a building and register it as a non-profit so rental income is untaxed?
<p>I know this question is dangerously close to asking for legal advice, but for the record I'm not planning on making any actual decision based on this answer, I would be consulting with a lawyer if I did try to set up a non profit.  All I'm looking for now is a basic sanity test to determine rather what I'm considering is potentially viable and worth putting time and effort into pursuing it further.</p>
<p>To give context I donate a significant percentage of my, fairly decent, income to charity.  I also currently have a large nest egg of money, numerous factors including two separate inheritances and a large investment being repaid have left me with so much money this year that ironically I'm having trouble donating it all, I would only be able to get tax refund on a fraction of it, and since I already donate close to the maximum I can claim on taxes every year anyways even carrying those donations into future years could take well over a decade to claim all the tax savings.</p>
<p>I've instead been toying with the idea of buying a large rental property, one with multiple bedrooms I could rent out to individuals as an investment.  I'd also likely stay in the smallest of the rooms myself, I'm too cheap to pay for a real home and at least if I own the rental property I can't get kicked out and forced to move again if a family needs their room back.  Unfortunately the added rental income, which would be donated to charity, would likely again push me over the amount I can claim for charitable donations in my taxes.</p>
<p>So I was toying with the idea of buying a property but registering it as a non-profit so all the rental income is immediately untaxed, I'd then funnel the money the rental made to the charity I support (givewell.com, the most efficient way to save lives!).  I'd presumably be paying a lawyer to set up the non-profit but that's a one time fee I can deal with.  I'm more worried about what the logistical effort it would create for me to be maintaining a rental property as a non profit.  I presume I'd have to keep my personal finances and the rental property finances separate, but is it as simple as having separate bank accounts or do I need to do more to prove I'm not profiting from the property?  Would I still be able to live at the property as one of the renters, paying appropriate rent to the non-profit, or would that create a conflict of interest even if I was paying reasonable rental amounts?</p>
<p>To be frank I'm not the most organized and part of the reason I've put off buying property before is I didn't want to take on all the logistical hassle of being a landlord.  If having a rental property registered as a non-profit adds too much additional overhead I may give up on both ideas and just stick to donating all the money to charity as I have been.  So before I go digging too deep into the process can anyone give me a rough idea of what hassles I'd be taking on if I tried to go down this route?</p>
<p>Both I and the rental I would purchase would be located in Maryland, USA.</p>

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<p>Would I still be able to live at the property as one of the renters,
paying appropriate rent to the non-profit, or would that create a
conflict of interest even if I was paying reasonable rental amounts?</p>
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<p>You could, though you might need to have some sort of valuation to back up the fair market value assessment.</p>
<p>Honestly, it would probably be fair easier to just make charitable donations of the portion of the rent received you want to donate and to  consider a charitable donation upon the sale of the property or your death in your will if you are so inclined.</p>
<p>The only upside would be to avoid paying property taxes, but property taxes are a tax deductible expense and as a non-profit the ongoing management of the building would be complicated and require work with an attorney on a regular basis to confirm that compliance continues.</p>

united-states non-profit