Public Access to Nonprofit Finances: a Timeline
By SUZANNE PERRY and Anu Narayanswamy
June 16, 2014 | Read Time: 1 minute
Nonprofits were first required to file annual returns known as Forms 990 to the Internal Revenue Service in 1942. Since then, various laws have expanded the types of groups that must file the documents, the data they must provide, and the steps required to make the information public.
Today most nonprofits are required to submit Forms 990 telling the IRS about their revenue, expenses, programs, salaries, and governance policies.
Critics are now pushing the IRS to make the documents available electronically so it is easier for nonprofit leaders, donors, researchers, regulators, and others to get critical information about how the nonprofit world operates.
