Friday, June 27, 2014

CU to Include Wireless Cafe and Coffee Shop in Branch

IntegrUS CU (Dubuque, IA) will include a wireless cafe and coffee shop in its new branch.

Caisse Cafe, which loosely translates into "credit union coffee" from French, will serve gourmet and flavored coffees, specialty beverages, and a limited assortment of baked goods and breakfast items.

However, why is a wireless cafe and coffee shop a permissible activity for a credit union?

Clearly, it has nothing to do with its tax-exempt mission. Any profits from this activity should be subject to unrelated business income taxation.

In addition, other taxpaying coffee shops should be concerned about this tax subsidized competitor encroaching on their market.

Read the story (subscription required).


4 comments:

  1. Wow - you are really stretching for some headlines for your anti-credit union beliefs. Thought we had taught you better at Mars Hill.

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  2. I guess the patrons are all "modest means"!!!!

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  3. As a state credit union, that business will be subject to UBIT. Thus you get your wish.

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  4. How do you know the credit union is charging either for the coffee or for WiFi service? If they are charging for these services, how do you know they aren't paying taxes on the UBI? You seem to be making assumptions (again) without listing any evidence of your allegations.

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