Showtimers Loses Federal Tax Exemption

Showtimers' Facility in Southwest Roanoke County

On the grand scale of things, this will not make a big splash, but Showtimers, one of Roanoke's comfortably consistent hometown theater groups, has lost its IRS tax exemption, it says, because of its own negligence. That is sad because it could cost the small company money, which it needs.

It is admirable that the board of directors took full responsibility for the mistake without saying something nebulous like "a mistake was made." I love it when the line is simply, "We made a mistake." OK, so let's get to fixing it. And my guess is Showtimers will do just that.

Here's; David Colatosti's explanation in a note to those who support the theater group: 

We are posting this notice on our website to inform you of a change in our organization. We were informed by the Internal Revenue Service in February that our 501(c)(3) non-profit status had been revoked.

This revocation was retroactive, effective May 15, 2011.

Our status was revoked because our organization had grown negligent in filing the necessary tax paperwork within the federally required timeline.

This change in our non-profit status has tax implications for our donors that we wanted to bring to your attention. Any donations made to Showtimers since May 15, 2011 cannot be claimed as tax deductible in your tax preparations. (Other deductions such as milage etc... are also no longer applicable.

Please consult your tax professional for further information regarding deductions and non-profits.) We truly regret any inconvenience this may cause you.

The board and I sincerely apologize for letting this situation occur. We will not let this happen again. We are working hard to correct our deficiencies and improve the way the organization operates. We are also initiating the process to reacquire our 501 (c)(3) status.

In the meantime, our patrons will probably not notice any differences in our productions or organization. We will continue to strive to be the best value in local theatre. We are still a volunteer organization that relies on our people to work hard to produce good theatre. All of us, from the board of directors to the actors on stage to the people behind the scenes are still involved in this effort.

Until such time as we reacquire our 501(c)(3), any donations made to us will not be able to be claimed as tax deductible. Donations are, however, still welcome and still very necessary in our organization. We will update our web page as we take steps towards reacquiring our 501(c)(3) status.

If you have any questions regarding this or anything else, please feel free to email me at: president@showtimers.org

Sincerely,

David Colatosti
President, Board of Directors
Showtimers of Roanoke Valley, Inc.