The Internal Revenue Service has publicly released educational materials on governance matters that it has been using recently to train its agents and employees.

The materials are of interest to charities because of controversy over the IRS’s role on the topic of governance. The federal tax code does not explicitly set out governance standards for the IRS to enforce, but the tax agency has shown increasing interest in keeping an eye on charity governance practices.

For example, the IRS’s newly revised Form 990 informational tax return, the primary document that charities file each year, includes a series of questions about nonprofit organizations’ governance policies and practices.

In a speech last year, Steven T. Miller, who was then the IRS’s top charity regulator, said, “the effects of good or bad nonprofit governance cut across virtually everything we see and do in our work. I...

The Internal Revenue Service has issued final regulations that explain how organizations must file tax returns if their annual gross receipts are usually $25,000 or less.

Last year, the IRS released its Form 990-N, also known as an electronic notice or “e-Postcard,” a new tax document required of groups with annual gross receipts of $25,000 or less.

In the past, only groups that earned more than $25,000 yearly had to file returns with the IRS, but the Pension Protection Act of 2006 requires all groups to file.

The new top charity regulator at the Internal Revenue Service has made clear she will continue the tax agency’s efforts to promote good governance by charities.

Sarah Hall Ingram, in remarks to a conference in Washington, said that the IRS has a “clear, unambiguous role to play” in governance matters.

“Some have argued that we do not need to be involved, because we can count on the states to do their job and the sector to stay on the path of self-regulation,” said Ms. Ingram.

“While both state regulation and sector self-regulation are important, and I welcome and respect them, they do not get the IRS off the hook,” she said. “Congress gave us a job to do, and we cannot delegate to others our obligation to enforce the conditions of federal tax exemption.”

She added: “The federal tax law must be applied consistently across the country, and we will use both our education and...

The U.S. Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has released a report on the “misreporting” of cash contributions to charities by individuals.

In 2001, an estimated 46 percent of taxpayers who deducted cash contributions misreported their deductions, the agency said. “About 79 percent of misreporting taxpayers overstated a total of $16-billion in contributions while about 21 percent of misreporting taxpayers understated a total of $2.2-billion in contributions,” said the report.

In 2008, the IRS examined about 175,000 taxpayers “who potentially misreported cash contributions, out of about 1.4 million individual taxpayers it examined that fiscal year, and adjusted cash-contribution amounts by $593-million in net terms,” the agency said.

The Government Accountability Office said that “one approach that tends to lead to high levels of taxpayer compliance...

A committee of nonprofit experts that advises the Internal Revenue Service is recommending that the agency improve the tax rules governing international grant making.

“While the longstanding framework for cross-border philanthropy functions well, it can and should be updated to simplify compliance and clarify areas of uncertainty,” said a report by the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities.

“Much of the guidance affecting cross-border philanthropy was provided long ago and fails to reflect developments of the past 15 or more years,” the report said. “As such, it does not address certain practices and structures that are common today.”

The report said that the committee believed that “a modest expenditure of IRS and Treasury administrative resources spent making updates to certain guidance will yield an exceptionally high return by reducing compliance burdens,...

On behalf of Liberty University, Liberty Counsel — a nonprofit litigation, education, and policy organization — is asking the Internal Revenue Service to investigate Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a civil-liberties watchdog group.

Last week, Americans United for Separation of Church and State asked the IRS to investigate Liberty University after the university dropped its official recognition of a student Democratic Party Club. Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Va., was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. Mr. Falwell’s son, Jerry Falwell Jr., is the university’s chancellor.

“AU has engaged in a consistent pattern of filing complaints against conservative churches and nonprofit organizations,” Liberty Counsel said in a statement. “Its statements are designed to intimidate, silence, and harm those with whom it disagrees.”

Liberty Counsel added: “AU’s...

The Internal Revenue Service has released the third in a series of tips to help nonprofit organizations prepare their Form 990 informational tax return, the primary document that groups file each year.

The third batch of tips — which come in the form of frequently asked questions — focuses on information the IRS seeks about organizations’ governance policies and practices in Part VI of the Form 990, which was significantly redesigned for the 2008 tax year.

The IRS acknowledges in the tips that, in general, the policies and practices that the tax agency asks nonprofit organizations about in Part VI are not required of organizations by the federal tax code.

“The IRS will use the information reported in Part VI, along with other information reported on the form, to assess noncompliance and the risk of noncompliance with federal tax law for individual organizations and across the...

An Obama administration official is advising charities not to worry about the White House’s plan to limit charity tax breaks for the wealthy and to keep in mind the “broader context” of President Obama’s plan.

Under the proposal, which has drawn fire for its potential to damage charitable giving, the tax break for itemized deductions would be limited to 28 cents for every dollar spent by couples who earn more than $250,000 (or individuals earning more than $200,000), starting in 2011.

Under the current system, taxpayers in the highest tax brackets can write off the same percentage as their tax bracket, or up to 35 percent.

The administration says the itemized deduction limits would raise $267-billion over 10 years to help pay to overhaul the country’s health-care system.

“To a large extent this proposal has been perceived among the nonprofit community that’s reliant on...

The Internal Revenue Service has released a fact sheet that explains the steps that tax-exempt organizations should follow to notify the government if they close or merge their operations.

“Most tax-exempt organizations that end their operations, either by shutting down, transferring their assets, or merging with another organization, must inform the IRS about the details of the action,” the revenue service said.

Independent Sector, a national coalition of charities and foundations, has asked the Obama administration to rescind or modify rules that restrict contacts between lobbyists and federal officials regarding the $787-billion economic-stimulus law enacted in February.

The rules, which the White House said it designed to ensure that spending decisions are not made “in response to improper influence or pressure,” say that registered lobbyists may communicate with administration officials about specific stimulus projects only in writing — no phone calls or in-person contacts.

“While we applaud the administration’s efforts to bring the highest standards of transparency and accountability to the distribution and use of government funds intended to strengthen our economy and assist the millions of Americans who are suffering in these difficult times, we believe the prohibition on...