ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the trajectory of charity regulation in the United States from the standpoint of a former federal government regulator. The review will begin with an overview of the tax-based system of charity regulation in the United States and its linkage to English common law concepts of charity. The historic basis for US charity regulation will be traced through to the birth of the current modern system of regulation in 1969, during a period characterized by a general recognition of the need for proactive government regulation of charities. Structural Overview has been nearly 50 years since the modern charity oversight system in the United States was formed. During that time, the oversight regime, administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), has gone from a relatively focused and coordinated system albeit one struggling with the challenges of underfunding, understaffing, and poorly drafted legislation to a system that seems to be racing to dismantle itself.
