Tax Agency Has No Plans to Increase Fees
The IRS has announced that it will not increase fees that it charges nonprofit organizations to apply for tax-exempt status or to receive written advice this year (Revenue Procedure 2005-8, Internal Revenue Bulletin 2005-1). Nonprofit organizations seeking first-time rulings that they qualify as…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
IRS Releases Data on Foundations, Charities
Charitable spending by foundations fell in 2001 for the first time in at least 16 years, according to a new report from the Internal Revenue Service. In 2001, 70,787 private foundations spent a total of $27.4-billion on grants and other charitable activities, a 0.7-percent decrease over the…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Deficit, tax-cut plans, and stepped-up government scrutiny give charities plenty of cause for concernWashington
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Review Finds Orchestra Did Not Violate Tax Law
An internal review by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has concluded that, while the organization’s leaders misled the board and the public about the value of 30 stringed instruments the symphony purchased in 2003 from a private collector, their actions did not appear to violate any tax laws. The…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Tax-Exempt Property Tough on N.J., Says Report
New Jersey loses nearly $90-billion a year in potential revenue because nonprofit organizations and governments there are not required to pay property taxes, according to a new report. The property of most of the state’s nonprofit groups and governments is located in a few cities, depriving those…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Government Drops Financial-Services Suit
The U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its lawsuit against a San Diego financial-services company in which it had charged the business with defrauding the government and investors by selling questionable tax shelters -- including one that allegedly allowed clients of the company to falsely…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Group Offers Free Tax-Form Software
Charities now can file their federal informational tax returns over the Internet using free software offered by a Washington nonprofit group. The group, the Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics, has developed a program that allows charities to enter, verify, print, and…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Federal Budget Measure Cuts Spending on Many Charity Programs
Congress has passed a $388-billion spending bill for 2005 that would cut a broad array of federal programs that support ALSO SEE:AIDS on the Home FrontFuture of Federal and State Funds for Domestic AIDS Services ‘Pretty Bleak’ charities and the people they serve, including programs in housing,…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Tax Agency Revises Charity Application Form
Organizations seeking charity status will be required to provide additional information on a revised application form released by the Internal Revenue Service. They will be required to use the updated Form 1023 beginning May 1, 2005. The application form has been redesigned to give the IRS data…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor