August 17, 2007
IRS Posts Reactions to Proposed Tax-Form Revisions
By Peter Panepento
The Internal Revenue Service today released nearly 300 pages of public comments about the proposed new version of its Form 990 informational tax return.
The proposed form, which all nonprofit groups with more than $25,000 in annual revenue must file annually with the tax agency, would require organizations to disclose more information about their financial operations and is designed to make it easier for the IRS to enforce tax laws.
The IRS is accepting comments from the public through September 14 and will look at recommended changes before it makes the form final. The IRS plans to require nonprofit groups to start using the form for the 2008 tax year, which most organizations would file in 2009.
Many of the public comments released today raise questions about some of the new disclosures or point out discrepancies or problems with the proposed wording of the instructions.
But some of the commentary is more general in tone.
Officials from nonprofit groups such as the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Va., the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, and the South Austin Hospital Auxiliary, in Austin, Tex., wrote the IRS to complain that the new form is too unwieldly and would create administrative burdens for their organizations.
Others wrote the tax agency to praise the changes.
“Charitable organizations that meet all requirements of a charity should not object to the revisions to Form 990,” wrote Samuel Magids, a tax lawyer from Houston. “Such non-objecting charitable organizations will give donors confidence in making contributions to such charitable organizations.”
The comments are available through the IRS Web site.
Organizations may send comments about the proposal to the IRS.
For more on the proposed form, see The Chronicle’s past coverage.
Commenting is closed for this article.
Previous: Ford Foundation Announces New President
Next: US Workers Say They Support Overseas Giving by Companies