Write-Offs: IRS Budget Rises 10%; New Rule Covers Excessive Pay

* Congress has given the I.R.S. a 10-per-cent increase in its budget, raising its appropriation from $7-billion for the 1997 fiscal year to nearly $7.8-billion for 1998. But observers say that the I.R.S. is not likely to pass along the full 10-per-cent increase to its financially strapped charity regulators. Congress had cut the I.R.S.’s budget the previous two years, forcing significant staff reductions at the service.

* The I.R.S. has issued rules that explain when a form should be submitted by charity leaders who are turning themselves in to the government for receiving unreasonably high salaries or other inappropriate benefits. Congress passed a law in 1996 that imposes excise taxes for such abuses. Form 4720 is generally due by the 15th day of the fifth month following the close of a group’s tax year. The rules were published in the October 7 issue of the Federal Register, Pages 52,256-57.