The Internal Revenue Service has announced a delay until next year in its release of a new Web-based software program that is designed to help nonprofit groups prepare "complete and accurate" applications for charity status.

The delay for the software program, which is called Cyber-Assistant, means that a reduced fee for charity-status applications will not be available until 2011. The IRS said last year that the software program would be ready in 2010.

Currently the tax agency charges a fee of $850 for applications by organizations with annual gross receipts that average more than $10,000 in the four years before they apply or for applications by new groups that anticipate such receipts in their first four years.

Organizations with actual or anticipated annual gross receipts of $10,000 or less are required to pay $400.

The IRS has said that it will offer lower fees to groups that...

The Internal Revenue Service has appointed new members to its influential Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities.

The new members of the committe are Karen A. Gries, a certified public accountant in Minneapolis, and Celia Roady, a lawyer in Washington.

In 2008, the committee released a high-profile report on that urged the IRS to be cautious in its stepped-up efforts to promote good governance by charities.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State has asked the Obama administration to investigate recent Congressional earmarks that the civil-liberties watchdog group says have been made to nine religious schools and organizations.

The earmarks, which are in the current federal budget, raise constitutional issues about inappropriate public financing of religion, Americans United said in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and three other cabinet members.

"We ask that you carefully investigate these earmarks and that you impose any restrictions necessary to ensure that the earmarks satisfy all legal requirements," wrote Americans United. "If such restrictions cannot feasibly be put in place for one or more of the earmarks, then, in order to comply with the law, please refrain from funding those earmarks."

The Obama administration did not have immediate comment. Americans...

The Internal Revenue Service is not backing away from its controversial efforts to promote good governance by charities, according to its top nonprofit regulator.

The federal tax code does not explicitly set out governance standards for the IRS to enforce, but the tax agency in the past two years has been keeping an eye on charities' governance practices -- a move that has drawn criticism from some observers.

Sarah Hall Ingram, in remarks to a conference in Washington on Wednesday, noted that some people believe the IRS "should just be sticking to the [tax] code and the exact words of the code and get out of the governance business."

Instead, she said, "we are in this discussion to stay."

Not 'Off the Hook'

Even with state oversight of nonprofit groups and self-regulation by charities, Ms. Ingram said, "Congress is not going to let the IRS off the hook for its job of regulating the ...

As Congress eventually moves to consider making broad changes to the nation's tax structure, proposals could emerge that would take into account a "blurring of the lines" in recent years between nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies, according to Russell Sullivan, staff director for the Senate Finance Committee.

"We might see the emergence of some proposals to establish what I'll call, for the lack of a better term, a for-benefit corporation -- something that is in between a private taxable company that's under our rules of C corporations or S corporations and partnerships but also not under our rules having to do with charities," he said.

As an example, Mr. Sullivan pointed to the recent enactment of the new federal health-care law. "As you know, a lot of changes are coming in health care. One of them is we authorized these state-based cooperatives to sell insurance in...

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, last year donated 6 percent of their income of $5.5-million to charity, according to figures released today by the White House.

Vice President Biden and his wife, Jill, donated 1.5 percent of their income of $333,182 to charity, in both cash and donated goods.

The Obamas reported giving a total of $329,100 to 40 charitable organizations. Their largest gifts were $50,000 contributions to CARE and to the United Negro College Fund.

As the White House had announced in March, Mr. Obama donated his $1.4-million Nobel Peace Prize award to 10 charities.

In its statement today, the White House said the federal tax code provides "that if the recipient of the Nobel Prize directs the Nobel Committee to donate the prize money directly to charity, as the president did, the recipient does not have to recognize the prize as income on his federal income tax...

Nonprofit hospitals will be required to conduct "a community health-needs assessment" at least once every three years and take other actions under the terms of the major health-care legislation passed by the House of Representatives last night.

President Obama is soon expected to sign the legislation into law. A health-care bill passed earlier by the Senate had included the requirements for nonprofit hospitals and the House approved them without change.

In the assessments, hospitals will have to outline steps they will take to meet the identified needs.

Nonprofit hospitals also will be required to adopt and widely publicize written financial-assistance policies that explain whether free or discounted care is available and how to apply for it.

In addition, nonprofit hospitals will have to bill patients who qualify for financial assistance no more than the amount generally billed to...

The Senate has passed legislation that would give tax breaks to nonprofit and other employers that hire unemployed workers.

The legislation, which was earlier approved by the House of Representatives, now goes to the president for his signature.

The measure, included in a jobs bill, would exempt employers from paying Social Security taxes in 2010 for employees hired this year.

The Alliance for Children and Families has estimated the Social Security savings could help nonprofit groups create up to 18,000 jobs.

The Internal Revenue Service's annual list of the "dirty dozen" tax schemes that Americans should avoid includes a warning about illegal efforts involving charitable organizations and charitable-tax deductions.

The IRS said it continues to observe the misuse of tax-exempt organizations. "Abuse includes arrangements to improperly shield income or assets from taxation and attempts by donors to maintain control over donated assets or income from donated property," the IRS said.

The tax agency said it "also continues to investigate various schemes involving the donation of non-cash assets, including situations where several organizations claim the full value for both the receipt and distribution of the same non-cash contribution."

Often, the IRS said, "these donations are highly overvalued, or the organization receiving the donation promises that the donor can repurchase the items later a...

The number of charities and private foundations registered with the Internal Revenue Service increased by 4.3 percent from 2008 to 2009, reaching a total of more than 1.2 million, according to figures released by the tax agency.

The percentage increase was slightly less than the rate that had been reported for the two previous years.

The IRS figures show that the number of groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code rose by 51,286 between 2008 and 2009.

In 2009, a total of 1,238,201 charities and foundations were registered with the federal government, compared with 1,186,915 in 2008.

The number of groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) has increased by nearly 90 percent since 1996, when the IRS counted a total of 654,186 of them.

The number of all charitable organizations increased by 5.2 percent from 2007 to 2008; 6 percent from 2006 to 2007; 1.7...