Lloyd Mayer

Notre Dame Law School

Office
3155 Eck Hall of Law
Notre Dame, IN 46556
Phone
574-631-8057
Email
lmayer@nd.edu
Website

Professor of Law

  • Advocacy by nonprofit organizations
  • Election law and tax law
  • Lobbying
  • Nonprofits

Mayer’s Latest News

Mayer in the News

SantaCon Isn’t Just Obnoxious

“Regardless of what they want to label it, throwing the party is not a charitable activity,” Lloyd Mayer, a Notre Dame University Law School professor, told the outlet.

Fox 5

Meet the ‘church planters’ keeping the faith while also tackling issues

Professor Lloyd Mayer, a law professor at Notre Dame University, says church planters are entitled to the same federal and state tax breaks or benefits as any traditional church. 

Vatican questions how priest moved $17 million meant for missionary work into investment fund

Lloyd Mayer, a professor specializing in nonprofit law at Notre Dame Law School, said he didn’t see any “red flags” in the transfers, but “a few yellow flags.”

DeSantis 2024 Campaign Debut Blurs Lines for Church Involved in Rally

However, Professor Philip Hackney of the University of Pittsburgh and Professor Lloyd Mayer of University of Notre Dame suggested that the IRS prohibition could kick in if a pastor is speaking in his official capacity during a campaign event held at their church.

Star Tribune

Hagedorn campaign money transferred to charity led by his widow, Jennifer Carnahan

It seems to be critical because it's the seed money for the charity," said Lloyd Mayer, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who focuses on nonprofit and election law.

Chattanooga Times Free press

Whistleblower: Chattanooga-based ‘John Ankerberg Show’ directs donations for audio Bibles to ministry expenses, private jets

Even if a charity highlights a specific cause in marketing campaigns, donors often understand their contributions may go toward other organizational expenses, said Lloyd Mayer, a nonprofit tax law expert at the University of Notre Dame, by phone this week.

Tampa Bay Times

This St. Petersburg church is too political, complaint to IRS says

But the church’s resources, like its physical building or a newsletter, can’t be used for those endorsements, said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who teaches courses on not-for-profit organizations, election law and taxation of business enterprises.

Trump loyalist Kash Patel's tax-exempt charity raises questions, experts say

"There are definitely a number of [potential] issues," said Lloyd Mayer, a law professor at Notre Dame who specializes in nonprofit organizations.

Trump’s Dark Money Machine Just Got Darker

But Lloyd Mayer, an expert in nonprofit law at the University of Notre Dame, said the filings also suggest a reset.

Fact check: Respect for Marriage Act explicitly protects religious tax-exempt status

"The Respect for Marriage Act does not allow the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of a church that will not perform or host a same-sex marriage," Lloyd Mayer, a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame with expertise in the government regulation of nonprofits, including churches, told USA TODAY in an email.

The Texas Tribune

20 churches got political and violated federal tax law, experts say. History shows there will likely be no consequences.

Video

The experts were Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a tax and election law expert at the University of Notre Dame; Ellen Aprill, an emerita tax law professor at Loyola Marymount University’s law school; and Sam Brunson, a law professor at Loyola University Chicago.

The Texas Tribune

Churches are breaking the law and endorsing in elections, experts say. The IRS looks the other way.

The churches’ coordination on messaging across the area is notable, according to University of Notre Dame tax law professor Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, who said he hadn’t before seen churches organizing to share lists of candidates.

Inside Shaun King’s Shadowy $6.7 Million Nonprofit

“Grassroots Law Project did make a mistake by not identifying the two PACs as ‘related organizations,” Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer wrote in an email to The Daily Beast. “Since the PACs are controlled by the same individuals who control Grassroots Law Project, they are considered brother/sister related organizations.”

Experts say a Trump-backed charity is pushing the boundaries of tax law

Audio

"If I was looking at this as an IRS agent or as an outside lawyer for that matter, I would say there's enough here that I want to do some digging," said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, an expert in nonprofit law at the University of Notre Dame School of Law. 

Philanthropy Daily

Thoughts on philanthropy from The Giving Review’s “Conversations” in first half of 2022

“A conversation with University of Notre Dame Law School’s Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer (Part 2 of 2),” February 15, 2022.

What would it take for the NRA to lose its tax-exempt status?

Without its tax-exempt status, the NRA would get taxed on their investment income at the corporate tax rate of 21%, potentially get taxed on their net income outside of investment income, and could also lose any exemptions they have at the state level, explained Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame. 

Mother Jones

True the Vote Raised Millions to Combat Voter Fraud—But No One Really Knows Where the Money Went

Lloyd Mayer, a nonprofit law professor at the University of Notre Dame, said there’s “a lot of sloppiness” in the financial statements. 

Black Lives Matter’s National Organization Opens Its Books. What Do They Reveal?

“My impression is that they’re trying to clean up the transparency and accountability problems they’ve had, but they still have a lot of work to do,” Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School who specializes in nonprofits, said after reviewing the document.

After Raising $90 Million in 2020, Black Lives Matter Has $42 Million in Assets

“I think they are doing what a lawyer in this situation would advise them to do, which is be as open as you possibly can be and be as accurate as you possibly can be,” said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in nonprofits.

Times of San Diego

Double-Whammy for Comic-Con: $8M Loss and Threat to State Tax Exemption

“Those state consequences include monetary penalties and suspension of charity status … and possible loss of state franchise tax exemption,” said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, the legal expert.

Black Lives Matter Secretly Bought a $6 Million House

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School who specializes in nonprofits, said the details of the house’s management deserve closer scrutiny. 

Minnesota Woman to Repay $120,000 Raised in Philando Castile’s Name

Regulations for individuals who raise money for others, or causes, on crowdfunding websites vary state by state, said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame.

Tax Prof Blog

A Conversation With Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer (Notre Dame)

Professor Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer has researched, studied, taught, and written about many various aspects of nonprofit and election law since he came to Notre Dame Law School 17 years ago from the Washington, D.C., office of Caplin & Drysdale, where he’d practiced in those same areas for almost a decade.

Texas Tribune

A Texas State bone marrow registry program became a national model. Now, its leader is under investigation for diverting money to support an affair.

“To be fair to a university administrator … you hear about a group, you assume that they are following the requirements to exist and to follow whatever university policies they have … especially since it is run by people who are part of your community, part of your part of the university,” said Lloyd Mayer, a nonprofit tax expert and law professor at the University of Notre Dame. 

Florida opens investigation into dark-money group key to ‘ghost’ candidate scandal

The reporting discrepancies raise “at least yellow flags,” said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a nonprofit expert and professor in the University of Notre Dame School of Law.

Guess Who’s Secretly Backing This ‘Anti-Smoking’ Vape Group

Lloyd Mayer, nonprofit law expert at the University of Notre Dame School of Law, said that the setup and its corporate ties reminded him of another Koch-fueled effort, the American Legislative Exchange Council, which consulted with private entities in drafting model legislation to pass to lawmakers.

Moms for Liberty: How an army of education activists has become a national political force

“It will identify basically who's getting the money, or large chunks of the money,” University of Notre Dame Law School professor Lloyd Mayer, an expert on nonprofit tax law, said of the group’s tax filing. 

The Conversation

Convenient but susceptible to fraud: Why it makes sense to regulate charitable crowdfunding

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame.

Trump’s Dark-Money Machine Gets a Makeover—and New Owners

Lloyd Mayer, an expert in nonprofit law at the University of Notre Dame, cast these anti-transparency developments as “troubling,” saying they strike at the heart of federal sunshine laws.

Wall Street Legend Perelman’s Family Trust Tied to Mystery Loans

And one particular line jumps out at Lloyd Mayer, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who focuses on nonprofits and charities and who has read the filings. 

This Breast Cancer Charity Is the Big New ‘Scam’ in Politics

Lloyd Mayer, a nonprofit law expert at the University of Notre Dame Law School, explained why the change poses a new hurdle.

Texas Tribune

Texas has raised $54 million in private donations for its border wall plan. Almost all of it came from this one billionaire.

“It’s common to give stock that’s increased in value because they can get rid of the gains and they can deduct the donations,” said Lloyd Mayer, a professor at Notre Dame Law School.

Law 360

Justices Open The Door Wider For Donor Info Law Challenges

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer is a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame Law School. 

The Supreme Court Throws Out A State Law Requiring Nonprofits To Name Rich Donors

The court, "subtly opened the door" to challenge these laws wrote Lloyd Mayer, a law professor at Notre Dame. 

Law 360

Mayo Clinic Win Could Invite More Tax Exemption Claims, 2021 Law360 159-56

Lloyd Mayer, law professor at Notre Dame's law school, said the Eighth Circuit's decision makes the definition of an educational organization more inclusive, but not as much as Mayo had asked for. 

Obamacare, LGBTQ rights, voting laws in play during Supreme Court's final month

"The nonprofits are asking the Supreme Court to make it harder for the government to require the disclosure of donor information," said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, an expert on campaign finance at Notre Dame Law School. 

Supreme Court poised for another historic spring

"The non profits are asking the Supreme Court to make it harder for the government to require the disclosure of donor information," said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, an expert on campaign finance at Notre Dame Law School. 

Supreme Court to Weigh in on State Charity Oversight (Podcast)

Audio

On this episode of our weekly podcast, Talking Tax, Bloomberg Law’s Jeff Leon talks with University of Notre Dame professor Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer about the case, Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra.

The Ritz Herald

U.S. Supreme Court donor privacy case could have ramifications for dark money in elections

While Congress currently requires tax-exempt charities to provide this information to the IRS, only a few states require charities to also provide this information to state officials who regulate charities, according to University of Notre Dame Law School Professor Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, who notes that dark money in elections could also be impacted.

Survey: Nearly 1 in 3 contribute to a crowdfunding drive

Charities could broaden their reach by asking supporters to tap their networks for gifts, says Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a professor of nonprofit law at the University of Notre Dame Law School.