News from the IRS

For those of you who don't subscribe to the IRS's Exempt Organization Update here are some highlights:

1. Nothing revolutionary but they seem to have reorganized some of their existing resources into a new spot. Seems to be a bit better laid out, all in one place.
2. Commissioner Miller's latest remarks about nonprofit governance can be found here, a PDF of his remarks at the Western Conference on Tax Exempt Organizations in November 2008.
3. The IRS's 2009 Exempt Organization Work Plan. Read this PDF to find out what the Internal Revenue Service will be up to in 2009 with regards to nonprofits.

2009 Mileage Rates

Heads up! The IRS has released its 2009 mileage rates. Here is an excerpt from the news release:

The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2009 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2009, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups, or panel trucks) will be:

• 55 cents per mile for business miles driven
• 24 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

For the full press release click here. To learn more about efforts to raise the reimbursement rate for miles driven in service of charitable organizations please click here.

Nonprofit Accounting Questions

Here are some more questions and answers from recent nonprofit accounting trainings trainings I have done.

Q: What is the difference between a 501c3 and a trade group?
A: Check out these publications from the CA Attorney General's office and this listing of resources from the IRS.

Q: What is admin? Just what are administrative costs:
A: Please read this from the National Center of Charitable Statistics.

Because of the diverse characteristics and accounting practices of non-profit
organizations, it is not possible to specify the types of cost which may be classified as indirect cost in all situations. However, typical examples of indirect cost for many non-profit organizations may include depreciation or use allowances on buildings and equipment, the costs of operating and maintaining facilities, and general administration and general expenses, such as the salaries and expenses of executive officers, personnel administration, and accounting.

Q: What is the minimum reporting threshold for filing a w2-g?
A: Please read this from the IRS (opens in a PDF).

Q: What is deferred revenue?
A: Check out these search results for the answer.

Q: Where to find compliance questions and answers from the IRS? How do we stay exempt?
A: The IRS has some good information here.

Q: Where can I find more information on the rules governing commercial fundraisers?
A: From the CA Attorney General's office here and here.

Q: Where are some discussions regarding excessive fundraising costs?
A: In the above commercial fundraiser links and here and here.

Again, if you have any other questions please let me know.

New 990 Resources and Links

Thanks to all the people who have come to our recent, "New 990" workshops. Below are a list of questions from them and resources I said I would post. If I miss any or you have other questions please feel free to put them in the comments below.

• Form 8734 - the end of advance ruling form is no longer required for groups who's advance ruling periods expire on or after June 8th 2008. Click here for the details.
• The IRS's recent 990 webinar is still available on line for folks who want to know more.
• Here is a link to SOP 98 2 issues regarding joint costs (costs that have BOTH a fundraising component and a program component. be careful with these, they can get you into trouble if you do not know the rules and the IRS is looking closer at this stuff.
• Here is the complete list of new 990 forms, instructions and schedules including J which list all the types of reportable compensation
• Other websites I referred to:
  www.stayexempt.org - helpful IRS resource
  www.guidestar.org - where our 990's reside
  hrcalifornia - labor and employment issues
• There was a question on schedule G part II. the text reads, "Events. (Complete this part if the organization reported more than $15,000 on Form 990, Part VIII, line 8a or
  Form 990-EZ, line 6a. List events with gross receipts greater than $5,000.)" The questioner asked why the 990 amount was $15,000.00 and the 990-EZ amount is $5,000.00. I had no idea until I looked at it now and realized there is a period that separates the two sentences. The $15,000.00 amount is for both the 990 and 990-EZ.
• Another question was asked about question 6 of part I of the core form, why does the IRS need to know the number of volunteers a nonprofit utilizes? I'm not really sure, maybe someone out there knows? Here is the text from the form 990 instructions:
  

  Line 6. Number of volunteers. Provide the number of volunteers, full-time and part-time, who provided volunteer services to the organization during the reporting year. Organizations that do not keep track of this information in their books and records or report this information elsewhere (such as in annual reports or grant proposals) may provide a reasonable estimate, and may use any reasonable basis for determining this estimate. Organizations may, but are not required to, provide an explanation in Schedule O of how this number was determined, and the types of services or benefits provided by the organization’s volunteers.

If I missed any question please let me know.

CAN Confernece Session Update

For those of you who attended CAN's 17th Annual Conference and my session on Accounting for Non-Accountants, thanks for coming! Here are some additional resources and links:

• The IRS Guide to Good Governance can be found here, sorry I forgot to add it to the handouts.
• Those of you interested in sample Auditor's reports please click here.
• The details on California's Nonprofit Integrity Act as it relates to Commercial Fundraisers (opens a PDF).
• Has the 990 PF Changed? Not yet.
• For those interested in the potential shift from GAAP to IFRS click here.
  
• When do we file the new 990? Read below or click here for a PDF of a general overview of the instructions.
  

  Calendar year - Use the 2008 Form 990 to report on the 2008 calendar year accounting period. A calendar year accounting period begins on January 1 and ends on December 31.
  
  Fiscal year - If the organization has established a fiscal year accounting period, use the 2008 Form 990 to report on the organization’s fiscal year that began in 2008 and ended 12 months later. A fiscal year accounting period should normally coincide with the natural operating cycle of the organization. Be certain to indicate in the heading of Form 990 the date the organization’s fiscal year began in 2008 and the date the fiscal year ended in 2009.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

More 990 Resources

The last post listed an IRS webinar for the new 990 and I put up a to-do list a while back. You think I would be done touting new 990 resources but you would be wrong! In the spirit of making sure there are enough resources noted out there to satisfy as many people as possible I give you one more. A big hat tip to Nancy at Non-profit accounting help for pointing out this resource from avenue2possibilities. It includes samples of many of the policies the new form 990 will be asking about and a workbook and checklist to go through to help make sure you are ready. So now all you have to do is put the policies in place!

And if they ever create a New 990 Comic Book you will hear about it here first thing, promise.

Retirement Account Changes

Does your nonprofit have a 403(b) retirement plan for its employees? If it does have you heard about all the changes taking effect for 403(b) plans? Do you know what you need to do to get ready for them?

As if getting ready for a new form 990 wasn't enough we also have to make sure our 403(b) plans are in order. The National Council of Nonprofit Associations is holding two webinars about the changes that will be presented by Bob Architect, Senior Tax Law Specialist at the IRS.

The first, a general presentation regarding the changes and how they will affect your organization, is Tuesday, October 28 at 3:00 - 4:15 pm Eastern. The second one, a comprehensive presentation regarding the changes for individuals who handle employee benefits, is Wednesday, November 12 at 3:30 - 4:45 pm Eastern. CAN Members get $10.00 off the $35.00 registration fee.

IRS Update

From the IRS comes this announcement:

IRS Sends Compliance Questionnaires to 400 Colleges and Universities
Approximately four hundred U.S. colleges and universities will begin receiving compliance questionnaires from the Internal Revenue Service in the next few days as part of the agency’s focused effort to study key areas in the tax-exempt community. The college and university questionnaire will focus on unrelated business income, endowments and executive compensation practices. The questionnaires are being sent to a cross-section of small, mid-sized and large private and public four-year colleges and institutions.

Private nonprofit universities are generally exempt from tax under Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3) and like state universities are to unrelated business income tax.

Click here to read the rest.

This is part of a new compliance project for colleges and universities by the IRS. Will this effort by the IRS broaden out to other 501(c)3 organizations? Probably. I think they are looking at the biggest fish first but I'll bet it is just a matter of time until more of these types of letters will be sent.
Are there any lessons to be learned here? I think two at least:

• I'd say make sure that if you are doing any activities that might generate unrelated business income you should learn the rules (link opens a PDF) that apply.
• Make sure your salaries are justified.

Probably making sure your ready in general for the new 990 reporting will help as well.

New 990 To Do List

Even if your nonprofit is lucky enough to have a November 30 year end there is still plenty of stuff you need to be doing right now to get ready for this new reporting form. Thanks to Brian for this great list, it has been something I have been meaning to do for CAN as well as share with everybody. This is a work in progress, some things will be added as we go through this stuff but here is where it is so far:

THE NEW 990:
WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO RIGHT NOW?

Required Policies

• Conflict of interest policy
• Whistle blower policy
• Document retention and destruction policy
• Joint venture policy
• Expense reimbursement policy
• Non-standard gift acceptance policy
• Written debt collection policy (hospitals)

Practices & Procedures

• Need to prepare a written document which sets forth the procedures by which the Board of Directors will review the Form 990 before it is filed
• Document compensation reasonableness processes
• Professional fundraisers agreement
• Documentation regarding eligibility to receive grants

To Do List

• Estimate the total number of volunteers utilized during the year
• Identify any new program service activities conducted during the year
• Identify revenue and expenses for three largest program service activities
• Ensure that filing all 1099s when required to do (non-employee services in excess of $600)
• Prepare documentation to support classification of independent contractors
• Ensure that organization is preparing Form W-2G when required
• Make sure register with California Attorney General if conducting raffles and make sure undertake backup withholding if necessary
• Identify non-cash contributions in excess of $5,000 for which public charity disposed of within 3 years after receiving
• Document meetings of Board of Directors committees with authority to act
• Write-up re how satisfy public disclosure requirements
• Identify all key employees under the expanded definition
• Break out the revenue and expenses from gaming activities from the general fundraising activities
• Update Chart of Accounts (and audited financial statements) to include the expense categories listed on Part IX of the redesigned Form 990

Even if the phrase, "new 990" wants to make you stick your finger in your ears and say, "lalalalalalalalalalala" you can still go through this list and make sure your organization is more prepped than it is right now for the big event.

And please let me know if you think anything is missing from the list!

Updated Form 990 Instructions

This IRS has announced the release of the updated and presumably final instructions for the redesigned form 990. The link takes you to a page to download the instructions to the various sections in PDF. The IRS has not yet compiled them all into the usual three column format, I think that they are easier to read at the moment. From the press release:

“We were gratified by the amount of help the IRS received from the tax-exempt community through public comments to redesign the Form 990 and revise its instructions,” said Steven T. Miller, Commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division. “This input helped us achieve our goal of improving compliance while minimizing burden. We will now begin working with the tax-exempt sector to help organizations complete the form and prepare for the 2009 filing season."

The IRS expects to release instructions to the 2008 Form 990-EZ, Short Form Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, in the next few weeks.

Happy reading! I'm going to start through these this week.

Updates From the Nonprofit Risk Management Center

Need a Refresher on Maintaining Tax-Exempt Status and Other IRS Obligations?

The IRS recently updated Publication 557 (a PDF). The updated publication provides helpful guidance on what information needs to be provided to donors to acknowledge donations, the rules regarding public disclosure of annual returns to the IRS, including the 990-T form, as well as examples of what constitutes the all-important public support needed to maintain tax-exempt status.

Frequently Asked Questions Now Available On the Center’s Web Site

Every day the Center responds to questions about risk, liability and insurance. The Center is pleased to announce that the “Advice” tab of the Center’s Web site now provides an easy link to the Center’s responses to these Frequently Asked Questions.

990-EZ Update

Thanks to GuideStar for this bit of news. Yesterday I mentioned the 990-EZ and said that is was unchanged. Not so, at least officially. It does not look like the form itself will change but the IRS proposes to allow filers of the 990-EZ to file six of the new schedules developed for the updated 990:

1. Schedule A, Public Charity Status and Public Support
2. Schedule C, Political Campaign and Lobbying Activities
3. Schedule E, Schools
4. Schedule G, Supplemental Information Regarding Fundraising or Gaming Activities
5. Schedule L, Transactions with Interested Persons
6. Schedule N, Liquidation, Termination, Dissolution, or Significant Disposition of Assets

Details on these schedules can be found here.

Got comments about these changes? Here are the details:

Send written comments on or before September 8, 2008, to:

R. Joseph Durbala
Internal Revenue Service, Room 6129
1111 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20224

All comments will become part of the public record and will be
summarized or included in the IRS request for OMB approval of the
changes to the 990-EZ.

IRS Round Up

News from the Internal Revenue Service's Exempt Organizations Division:

1. 2008 Form 990 Instructions
   Public commenting on the new form's draft instructions closed in June and the IRS is getting ready to release the final version by August 15. You can click here to get a preview of what changes have been made the instructions.


2. Political Activity
   A friendly reminder from the IRS about what is allowed and not allowed during this exciting political season. The top two links are probably the most useful, including the link to the handy StayExempt.org website.
   
   
3. Form 990 Filing Phase-In
   Another reminder about the phase-in of filing the new form 990. The IRS came up with this as a way to mitigate the filing burden on smaller nonprofits. Click here to see what the schedule is. It is conceivable that organizations that filed a form 990 for 2007 may only have to file the (unchanged) form 990-EZ for 2008.
   

And now your reward for reading about the IRS updates. Kitties!

The New 990 - Financial Accountability Resources

I'm going to start off an occasional series about the new form 990. As we move closer to the end of 2008 and closer to the time when we have to start using this form it is important to look at our organizational and financial systems and make sure they are able to give us the information we need so we can fill out this report or get the right information in a timely fashion to those who will fill it out for us.

An important aspect of what the updated form 990 is looking for is financial accountability. There are several questions in the governance section (pdf) of the form that ask us about our governance practices. Do we have the minutes of Board of Director meetings? Do we have a document retention and destruction schedule? Is there whistle blower policy at our nonprofit? Not sure what some of the term s mean exactly, or wonder if the IRS has a different meaning for a word? Check out their handy Appendix and Glossary (both pdf's). Both excellent resources.

Much of this is similar to what for-profits have to have because of the Sarbanes Oxley-act of 2002. A great resource for implementing policies like those asked for can be found here on the National Council of Nonprofit Associations website. I encourage you all to read about what information the new 990 will ask to keep track of and have on hand before we or our auditors have to fill this out. Preparation will save us time and money

IRS Increases Mileage Rates through 12-31-08

From the IRS press release:

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2008. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

The rate will increase to 58.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008. This is an increase of eight (8) cents from the 50.5 cent rate in effect for the first six months of 2008, as set forth in Rev. Proc. 2007-70. [opens up a PDF]

In recognition of recent gasoline price increases, the IRS made this special adjustment for the final months of 2008. The IRS normally updates the mileage rates once a year in the fall for the next calendar year.

"Rising gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans. Given the increase in prices, the IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the real cost of operating an automobile," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "We want the reimbursement rate to be fair to taxpayers."

While gasoline is a significant factor in the mileage figure, other items enter into the calculation of mileage rates, such as depreciation and insurance and other fixed and variable costs.

The optional business standard mileage rate is used to compute the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business use in lieu of tracking actual costs. This rate is also used as a benchmark by the federal government and many businesses to reimburse their employees for mileage.

The new six-month rate for computing deductible medical or moving expenses will also increase by eight (8) cents to 27 cents a mile, up from 19 cents for the first six months of 2008. The rate for providing services for charitable organizations is set by statute, not the IRS, and remains at 14 cents a mile.

The new rates are contained in Announcement 2008-63 [opens up a PDF] on the optional standard mileage rates.

Other changes include moving the Medical/Moving rate to 27 cents per mile. The Charitable rate remains unchanged at 14 cents per mile.

New 990-N Filing Deadline Approaching

May 15, 2008, is the first deadline to file the brand new form 990-N, the form for small tax-exempt organizations whose gross receipts are normally $25,000 or less for tax years ending on December 31, 2007. Check out the latest information by clicking here.

The Commensurate Test

From the Independent Sector's Memo To Members come these interesting bits of news:

1. IRS Plans to Make Greater Use of "Commensurate Test" in Oversight of Charities

   The commensurate test generally measures if a charity is undertaking, through contributions and grants, a charitable purpose commensurate in scope with its financial resources. Miller said that the Service will "re-energize" what he called a "little-used line of legal precedent."

   Thanks to some news about nonprofit college and hospital spending and levels of endowments the IRS wants to make sure we are using our funds for our charitable purposes and not hording our funds.
   

2. Senate Bill Proposes FTC Jurisdiction over
   Charities
   

   The business practices of 501(c)(3) nonprofits would be subject to Federal Trade Commission regulation and enforcement under a bill introduced last month by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND). The FTC Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S.2831) would expressly extend FTC jurisdiction by changing the current definition of “corporation” in the FTC Act to cover 501(c)(3) organizations. FTC commissioners stated in written testimony that their lack of jurisdiction “has prevented the commission from taking action against potentially anticompetitive conduct of nonprofits engaged in business.”

   Just to look at the dark side of this there have been a number of for-profit entities that have sued nonprofits because the for-profit businesses thought that the nonprofits had an unfair advantage over them because they didn't have to pay taxes. Is that what this is related to? Maybe they haven't heard of Unrelated Business Income?
   
   
3. IS Announces New Estimate for Value of Volunteer Time

Efficient Charities

Two stories from the Chronicle of Philanthropy last Thursday caught my eye.

The first is about congressional rumblings to have nonprofits post fundraising ratios and costs on a Postal Service web site.

Seriously.

No information was given on where the charities would pull this information from, when it would be updated and weather it would be checked out or not for accuracy. Not to mention who would maintain this database, how it would be funded or what kind of education and outreach about the information on said site and how to use it.

The second article is more in depth. It starts out with the IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller stating that, even though the IRS may not have the jurisdiction to, it will be more aggressive in monitoring the "efficiency and effectiveness of charitable organizations." He was also disappointed that the IRS gave up the idea of placing "efficiency indicators." on the front of the 990 because he wants to help make "apples-to-apples" comparisons possible.

I was against having the "efficiency indicators" there precisely because I don't think that it helps much for comparison. Standard benchmarks like the ones listed in the article may be informative but I do not believe they tell you how efficient a charity is, especially in comparison to other charities. For profit businesses are formed to make profit. A dollar of profit is the same at one business as it is at another, so ratios work and are comparable. But nonprofits are formed to do many different things, too many to be able to come up with easy ratios and benchmarks that cross the sectors of the charitable universe.

Would you compare a big nonprofit hospital to a small after school sports program? You could but I don't think you would get much that is useful. Now hospital to hospital, sports program to sports program? You could make some comparisons with benchmarks and ratios that could yield some interesting information.

The myopic thinking that all nonprofits are the same just because they are nonprofits still baffles me. Especially in people who task themselves to regulate us.

Is A Donation To An Individual Tax Deductible?

The short answer, according to the IRS and Publication 526, is no. I have been asked this question several times over the years and there is one thing people always get stuck on: They want to donate money to a specific person that charity XYZ works with. They will write the check to the charity but specify who the money should be spent on. That is a charitable donation, right? Wrong. To quote from the IRS:

You cannot deduct contributions to specific individuals, including the following.

• Contributions to individuals who are needy or worthy. This includes contributions to a qualified organization if you indicate that your contribution is for a specific person. But you can deduct a contribution that you give to a qualified organization that in turn helps needy or worthy individuals if you do not indicate that your contribution is for a specific person.

  Example. You can deduct contributions for flood relief, hurricane relief, or other disaster relief to a qualified organization. However, you cannot deduct contributions earmarked for relief of a particular individual or family.

• Payments to a member of the clergy that can be spent as he or she wishes, such as for personal expenses.

• Expenses you paid for another person who provided services to a qualified organization.

  Example. Your son does missionary work. You pay his expenses. You cannot claim a deduction for your son's unreimbursed expenses related to his contribution of services.

• Payments to a hospital that are for a specific patient's care or for services for a specific patient. You cannot deduct these payments even if the hospital is operated by a city, state, or other qualified organization.
  

This is not to say that those donors cannot donate to those individuals at all, just that those donations will not be tax deductible.

Updated 990 Draft Instructions Released

It is finally here! On April 7, 2008, the IRS released for public comment draft instructions for the 2008 Form 990. Here is a link to the announcement and the link to find draft versions of the instructions. Public comments on the draft forms will be open until June 1, 2008. You can submit your comments directly to them or in the comments section of this post and CAN will aggregate them and send them in.

Many of the draft forms have a highlights section in the beginning where the IRS describes what is new, different and where the IRS really wants our comments. Lats years comments on the draft 990 had many comments and critiques on the current instructions including:

• No glossary of key terms, too few definitions, and unclear definitions that are scattered throughout the form and that are difficult to find
• Too much extraneous material specific to particular types of filers is placed in the front end before the specific line-by-line instructions that apply to most filing organizations
• Ambiguous reporting standards for executive compensation, particularly with respect to the types of compensation that must be reported, and when and where they must be reported on the form
• Lack of examples in particularly difficult areas

The IRS is promoting new tools in these updated instructions to address these and other concerns so be sure and check them out and give us your feed back.