July 15, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
Two state attorneys general plan to post on their Internet sites data from the informational tax returns filed by charities in their states.
* In California, the Office of the Attorney General plans to add to its Web site this fall the most recent available Form 990 for each non-profit group in the state that files it.
* Non-profit organizations in Illinois are required to file a form that includes financial data from the Form 990 with the state’s Office of the Attorney General, and the office plans to post the forms on its Web site in early 2000.
Both projects are designed to help donors make informed giving decisions and to cut down on the amount of time employees spend responding to requests for the forms.
Organizations in California and Illinois will still be required to adhere to the new rules on charity disclosure that were issued by the Internal Revenue Service this spring and went into effect last month (The Chronicle, April 22). Under those rules, charities must provide copies of their three most-recent tax returns immediately to anyone who requests them in person or within 30 days to people who make written requests. Charities also have the option of putting an “exact reproduction” of the returns on the Internet.
