Charitable Deductions Rose in 2004, IRS Says
TAX WATCH New statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service show that deductions claimed for charitable contributions rose 7.2 percent to ALSO SEE: TABLE: Charitable Deductions Claimed on Tax Returns $156.2-billion in 2004. The IRS will revise the statistics in coming months before making…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
IRS Seeks Public Comments on New Tax-Shelter Law
By Elizabeth SchwinnThe Internal Revenue Service has asked nonprofit groups and others to comment on how the agency should enforce a law Congress passed last month to impose steep fines on charities, churches, and other tax-exempt groups that participate in abusive tax shelters. The law, which…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Tax Agency Gets Advice on Charity Tax Forms
By Elizabeth SchwinnIn an effort to speed up a long-awaited update of Form 990, the federal informational tax return charities are required to file, an Internal Revenue Service advisory committee has proposed seven principles for the tax agency to follow in making changes. The advisory committee…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
IRS Raises Fees It Charges for Nonprofit Applications
TAX WATCHBy Elizabeth SchwinnBeginning July 1, the IRS will raise the fees it charges charities to apply for tax-exempt status, the revenue service has announced. Organizations seeking first-time rulings that they qualify as charities generally will pay $750, up from the previous rate of $500. A…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Senate Urges Investigation of Pay at Smithsonian
TAX WATCHBy Elizabeth SchwinnA key lawmaker has asked the Smithsonian Institution’s internal watchdog unit to look into executive pay and perquisites throughout the nonprofit museum. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, asked the inspector general’s office at the museum to expand its…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Tax Agency Investigates Nonprofit Hospitals
TAX WATCHBy Elizabeth SchwinnThe Internal Revenue Service has begun looking into how well nonprofit hospitals are complying with federal law requiring them to provide social benefits, such as free or low-cost health care for the poor, in exchange for their tax-exempt status. The tax agency has sent…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Red Cross’s Actions After Hurricane Katrina Criticized in Congressional Watchdog’s Report
By Elizabeth SchwinnAs the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struggled last year to find food and housing, relief was delayed by a bureaucratic squabble between the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency over what duties the nonprofit group and the government agency…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Tax-Exempt Organizations Registered With the IRS
By Elizabeth SchwinnMore than a million charities and private foundations were registered with the Internal Revenue Service as of September 30, 2005, according to figures released by the tax agency, up from roughly 800,000 in 2000. The number of groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
U.S. Tax Court Denies Easement Deduction
TAX WATCHIThe IRS has won a round in its efforts to crack down on abuses of a legal tool designed to protect private land from development. The U.S. Tax Court has ruled that a Virginia couple’s gift of a development restriction on a 29-acre piece of land does not qualify for a charitable deduction…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Coalition of Housing Groups Battles Ruling by Tax Agency
TAX WATCHSome nonprofit organizations that give down-payment assistance to home buyers are fighting an IRS ruling that says they may lose their tax-exempt status if the money for down payments is provided by the sellers of the homes. An alliance of down-payment assistance groups, including…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor