Tax Agency Ends Program on Donated Leave Time
The IRS has ended a program that allowed employees to donate the value of their unused paid leave to charity without paying income taxes on the gift. Following the terrorist attacks in 2001, the IRS made a special exception to income-tax rules that allowed workers to pay no income taxes on paid…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
IRS Compiles Auditors’ Checklist
The Internal Revenue Service has provided its auditors with a list of questions to ask selected religious and social-services groups this year as part of an ongoing effort to determine how the agency can best strengthen its auditing program. The revenue service says it will use the answers to build…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
At 14, High-School Freshman Already Is a Seasoned Fund Raiser
At 14, Michael Munds has already been instrumental in raising more than $150,000 for 10 causes, ALSO SEE:Charity’s Youth MovementThe Young and the Generous: Related articles including a Denver children’s hospital, and a library for a homeless shelter. Michael doggedly canvasses households and…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Few Foundations Publish Reports, Study Finds
More foundations published annual reports this year than in past years, according to a new ALSO SEE: Foundations: How They Report to the Public study by the Foundation Center. Even so, more than 90 percent of grant makers still do not publish such reports, the center said. The number of foundations…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Pew Publishes Guide to Politicking by Churches
The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has published a guide for priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders detailing the tax rules that govern political activity by houses of worship. The booklet explains the origin of the prohibition on political activity by churches and the penalties for…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
IRS Takes Steps to Protect Donor Privacy
The IRS has issued a letter designed to reassure charities that it will not disclose the confidential information about donors that organizations provide to the revenue service. In response to concerns expressed by a charity adviser, Steven T. Miller, director of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Proposed fund-raising rules too restrictive, critics sayCharities from across the country are protesting a proposed change in New York State fund-raising law. They argue that the proposal would force nonprofit groups to change the way they do business and give the state too much power to dictate…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Cracking Down on Abuse: How Law Works
In 1996, Congress passed a law that allows the Internal Revenue Service to levy fines on charity officials who receive inappropriately high salaries or excessively generous benefits, as well as the trustees who authorize those arrangements. In addition, penalties can be assessed on those who…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
How ’96 Law on Financial Abuses Has Been Applied by IRS in Four Cases
When a charity posts operating losses of $31-million in a single year and cuts back on programs, it may seem odd that its entire board of trustees should make nearly $1-million each. However, that’s what happened in 1994 at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, in Honolulu. The ALSO SEE:Falling Through…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Charity Gets Help From IRS in Dealing With Missing Funds
Not all charities are fond of a 1996 law that cracks down on nonprofit officials who receive overly lavish ALSO SEE:Falling Through the CracksA Controversial Provision Requires Charities to Tell IRS About Misdeeds of Top OfficialsHow ’96 Law on Financial Abuses Has Been Applied by IRS in Four Cases…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor