Roger Colinvaux, legislation counsel to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, has announced he is leaving his post at the end of April. He accepted a tenure-track position at Catholic University of America’s law school, in Washington.

Mr. Colinvaux helped shepherd key legislation for nonprofit groups, including the Individual Retirement Account (IRA) provision in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. That provision allows donors older than 70 1/2 years to donate up $100,000 tax-free from their retirement accounts to charities.

“I’ve been at Joint Tax for seven years and the Pension Protection Act was the culmination of many years work,” says Mr. Colinvaux.

At Catholic University, he will continue his focus on public policy. “I want to help inform the debate on these issues from an academic standpoint.” He adds, “Being at a university is actually being at a nonprofit, and I ...

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a notice explaining how the public can request copies of a nonprofit organization’s Form 990-T, which lists unrelated business income.

All 990-Ts filed after August 17, 2006, are available from the IRS, but the agency does not currently have a way for people to request them. To make sure they are available, the agency is allowing people to adapt a form used to make requests for other documents (called the 4506-A) by writing a request for a 990-T on line 7 of the 4506-A.

(The 990-T can also be obtained by writing an individual charity directly to request a copy.)

The tax agency says it will change its request form in the near future to make it easier to secure a 990-T.

In a new report, the Government Accountability Office has found that charities have had mixed experiences with vehicle donations after a new law in 2005 altered how much donors could deduct for vehicles.

Before January 1, 2005, donors could claim a tax break equal to the fair market value of a donated vehicle. After that date, donors could deduct only the amount for which the charity later sold the vehicle. The government changed the law because it found examples of large discrepancies between the market value claimed by donors and the actual sales price.

The report — which contains in-depth interviews with 10 charities, but no statistical survey — looks at the effect of the new law on the number of vehicles donated, the quality of the vehicles donated, and the revenue generated by donated vehicles.

The results, while not clear cut, were generally negative: Between 2003 and 2006, ...

Once again, the misuse of nonprofit organizations to shield income or provide fake tax breaks has appeared on the Internal Revenue Service’s Dirty Dozen, the agency’s annual list of the top 12 tax scams in the United States.

Most of the abuse stems from people giving money or property to donor-advised funds or similar programs while retaining too much control over the donations. The IRS also warns charities to watch out for people overestimating the value of donated property, such as land or artwork, so that the donors can take an excessive tax break.

In addition, the IRS says that an old scam — claiming that private tuition payments are donations to a nonprofit group or religious organization — continues to grow. The agency noted on last year’s Dirty Dozen list that the scam had returned, and this year it notes that it has gained popularity.

The Internal Revenue Service is asking nonprofit organizations to help publicize the government’s tax-rebate program and to make sure that all people eligible to receive a rebate know how to claim it.

Many Americans will receive a $600-per-person rebate as part of the federal government’s recent economic-stimulus package, and most of those people will automatically receive the rebate when they file their 2007 income tax return.

However, many Americans who do not normally file income tax returns but who receive Veterans’ Affairs benefits or Social Security payments are also eligible. The IRS is hoping that charities and churches that have close contact with those people can help them obtain their rebate.

To help nonprofit groups, the agency has set up a Web page with sample flyers, mail inserts, and radio notices that groups can use.

The Internal Revenue Service will probably alter its definition of which workers should be counted as key employees on the newly redesigned Form 990 informational tax form, a change that would require many groups to list the salaries of more people than they do now.

Ronald J. Schultz, a senior technical adviser for the agency’s tax-exempt organizations division, said in an interview that the IRS is looking at expanding the definition of “key employees” for whom charities must report compensation on their Form 990. The form and its instructions are getting a significant makeover for the 2008 tax year.

Currently, only workers whose influence extends “organizationwide” are considered “key employees” on Part V of the Form 990, said Mr. Schultz. (Schedule A of the Form 990 asks charities to list the compensation of their five highest-paid workers other than officers, directors, and key...

A Congressional staff member discussed possible new requirements for university endowments — including a mandate that 5 percent of their value be spent each year on charitable expenses — at a session of the Washington Non-Profit Legal and Tax Conference.

Roger Colinvaux, legislation counsel to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, noted that Congress has historically been concerned with preventing “unreasonable accumulations of income.” That concern led to the current rule that private foundations must spend a certain percentage of their assets each year. Lately, some senators have argued that university endowments represent an unreasonable accumulation, too, so it makes sense, said Mr. Colinvaux, that those endowments be subject to the same laws.

As for Congress implementing a payout requirement, Mr. Colinvaux said he was unsure if it would apply to all university...

Tax rebates recently approved by the federal government to stimulate the economy have also stimulated a host of tax-rebate scams, some of which are aimed at nonprofit groups.

The Internal Revenue Service is warning charities to watch out for a fraudulent e-mail that promises a quick rebate. The message asks people to click on a link to a “refund claim form” and enter personal information that could be used to gain access to bank or other financial accounts.

The message is signed, or appears to be signed, by the head of the IRS’s tax-exempt division. It is the first rebate scam the agency has seen that seeks to ensnare nonprofit organizations.

The agency expects rebate scams to continue through at least May, when the government will begin issuing rebate checks up to $600 per individual. The IRS reminds people that it never sends out unsolicited e-mail about tax matters to anyone ...

The Internal Revenue Service has opened a formal investigation into the political activities of a pastor in a church in California.

Wiley Drake, pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, confirmed that the IRS sent his church a letter last week. The letter inquired about a press release he sent out in August endorsing Mike Huckabee, a Republican presidential candidate viewed as the most favorable to evangelical Christians.

Mr. Wiley also hosts a Christian radio show and endorsed Mr. Huckabee on the air. However, according to his lawyer, Erik Stanley, Mr. Wiley made it clear in both cases that he endorsed Mr. Huckabee personally, not as a representative of his church, which would make his actions legal and would not jeopardize the church’s tax-exempt status.

Mr. Stanley — senior counsel at the Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit group with a Christian focus that...

The Internal Revenue Service has issued two memos to clarify how it informally investigates organizations after receiving complaints.

The first describes how the agency checks nonprofit groups to make sure they deserve tax-exempt status and have not violated any laws or regulations that would endanger that status.

The second describes how the IRS handles complaints from the public or from other branches of government.

Both memos also explain the review process, which differs from a formal investigation. The fact sheets do not outline or describe any new procedures or regulations, only clarify those already in place.