Committee Says Donors Exaggerate Value of Artwork
The Internal Revenue Service has recalculated the value of hundreds of pieces of artwork for which deductions were claimed by taxpayers who donated them to charities or left them to heirs. As it has in the past, the advisory panel found that many people exaggerated the value of paintings and other…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Senator Expands Inquiries on Hospitals and Colleges
A powerful Republican senator has asked the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s investigative arm, to examine how much free care and other services nonprofit hospitals provide to the regions in which they are located. Sen. Charles E. Grassley, of Iowa, said he is concerned that hospitals…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Nonprofit Groups Ask IRS to Increase Enforcement
A leading coalition of nonprofit organizations says the Internal Revenue Service isn’t paying enough attention to charities. Independent Sector, a Washington coalition of major charities and foundations, has written letters to the Congressional subcommittees that oversee IRS spending to say that…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
The IRS is reminding small charities and other nonprofit organizations that, beginning next year, they will have to file information annually with the tax agency. Charities and other tax-exempt organizations that have income of $25,000 or less per year must file the electronic notice, known as the…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
100,000 People May Have Cheated on Charity Tax Breaks
More than 100,000 taxpayers may have cheated the government of as much as $1.8-billion worth of revenue last year by claiming improper deductions on their income-tax returns for donations of goods and property to charity, according to a report released last month by the Treasury Department’s…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPYPeaceable Kingdom
Photograph by Tina Matejek
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Tax-Exempt Organizations Registered With the IRS
More than a million charities and private foundations were registered with the Internal Revenue Service as ALSO SEE: TABLE: Tax-Exempt Organizations Registered With the IRS of September 30, 2006, according to figures released by the tax agency. The number of groups classified under Section…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
Michigan Supreme Court Ruling on Hospitals Could Be Important Nationwide
The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that a health-care facility can maintain its tax-exempt status even though it spends less than 1 percent of its budget on charity care. The ruling was a surprise, says Dan Prives, a nonprofit-finance expert who writes the blog Where Most Needed, because…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor
With a small staff and a $1.7-billion goal, a conservation charity looks to volunteers to help snare big gifts from donors Ducks Unlimited, a wetlands-conservation organization, is engaged in a daring endeavor: running a campaign to raise $1.7-billion with a staff of 25 fund raisers. Most other…
By Elizabeth Schwinn
Contributor