April 4, 2002 | Read Time: 1 minute
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Several nonprofit associations have formed a coalition to help the IRS figure out how to make it easy for charities to file their federal informational tax returns electronically.
The IRS is working on a project to enable charities to file online the tax forms they submit, known as Forms 990. It has asked charities to comment on the feasibility of its plan by April 18 (The Chronicle, March 21).
The coalition supports electronic filing, saying it could make it cheaper and faster for the government, watchdog groups, grant makers, and the public to access information from Forms 990. Currently, GuideStar and the National Center for Charitable Statistics must wait for IRS employees to enter information from the returns into computers before the groups can begin compiling and disseminating it. GuideStar is a member of the coalition, which also includes the Council on Foundations, Independent Sector, the National Council of Nonprofit Associations, and OMB Watch.
The National Center for Charitable Statistics is conducting an online survey of chief executives and financial officers of nonprofit groups to ask whether they would file electronically and what difficulties they might face in doing so. The center will share the results of the survey with the IRS. To view the survey, go to http://www.form990.org/survey.htm.
