Utah County v. Intermountain Health Care, Inc.

Intermountain Health Care (IHC) (defendant), a nonprofit running numerous Utah hospitals with an unpaid board and no dividends or private benefit from its assets, applied for tax-exempt status for two of its hospitals; the Utah County Board of Equalization denied the exemption, and the Utah State Tax Commission reversed, prompting the Board's appeal. IHC's hospitals covered nearly all their operating costs through patient charges and third-party payments, provided less than 1 percent of gross revenue in uncompensated charitable care between 1978-1980, avoided advertising their charity care out of fear people would take advantage of it, and accumulated significant capital surplus, though no individual could receive distributions on dissolution — although IHC separately owned a for-profit subsidiary that did distribute income.