Association Executive - January/February 2008 - (Page 20)

Too Much of a Good Thing? By Geralyn R. Hurd, CPA, and Stuart J. Miller, CPA Enhanced Form 990 Disclosures and Their Impact on Your Board ot-for-profit organizations are generally supportive of efforts to improve transparency in the tax-exempt sector. But their willingness to embrace greater disclosure may be tested by enhanced information requirements that could hinder not-for-profits’ ability to recruit and retain qualified and often prominent board members. In response to calls for increased scrutiny and regulation of not-for-profits, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has introduced a series of changes in recent years to Form 990, the annual information return that not-for-profits must file with the IRS. The form currently in use contains new questions that require not-for-profit to disclose personal information about board members’ business and familial relationships with other board members and with the organizations they serve. 20 ASSOCIAT IO N EX EC U T IV E JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 N Coming Soon: Still More Disclosure Moreover, the IRS and Congress are pushing for the release of even more information in this publicly disclosed document. In June 2007, the IRS released for public comment a completely redesigned draft Form 990, the first major revision since 1979. The public comment period ran through September 14, and the IRS anticipates that the new form will be effective for the 2008 filing year. (More information about the new form, including the draft version, can be found in the tax-exempt section of the IRS Web site at www.irs. gov/charities/index.html.) Enhancements to Form 990 have been made at the behest of legislators eager to bring increased transparency to the exempt sector. In a letter from Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT), they urge the IRS to accelerate the release of the redesigned form, which they hope can be used more effectively as an information-gathering tool. According to the IRS, the revised form will be based on three guiding principles: • Enhancing transparency to provide the IRS and the public with a realistic picture of the organization, along with a basis for comparison to other organizations; • Promoting compliance by accurately reflecting the organization’s operations so the IRS may efficiently assess the risk of noncompliance; and • Minimizing the burden on filing organizations. Organizations required to file Form 990 will have to complete the core form (10 pages in the draft document). In addition, the IRS has expanded the current Form 990 into 15 separate http://www.irs.gov/charities/index.html http://www.irs.gov/charities/index.html

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Executive - January/February 2008

Association Executive - January/February 2008 Contents From the CEO Good Governance Practices for 501(c)(3) Organizations A New Model: Helping Smaller Not-For-Profits with Their Endowment Management Inside NYSAE Book Beat Too Much of a Good Thing? Enhanced Form 990 Disclosures and Their Impact 7 Myths about Financial Planners An Executive's Guide to Responding to Third-Party Subpoenas Relationship Selling: Maximize Your Talk, Time & Tech to Keep Your Connection Strong Save the Dates Index of Advertisers

Association Executive - January/February 2008

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