Ditch and irrigation companies, telephone companies, electric companies, and "like organizations" that seek exemption under IRC 501(c)(12) must be organized and operated as mutual or cooperative organizations. The terms "mutual" and "cooperative" have no legal distinction for purposes of section 501(c)(12). The U.S. Tax Court defined "cooperative" as follows:
"A cooperative is an organization established by individuals to provide themselves with goods and services or to produce and dispose of the products of their labor. The means of production and distribution are those owned in common and the earnings revert to the members, not on the basis of their investment in the enterprise, but in proportion to their patronage or personal participation in it.