The Internal Revenue Service exempt organizations division will not be auditing organizations for lack of appropriate governance policies, but it will be looking at organizations more often and talking to them about particular issues, if agents see from the required Form 990 filings that charities do not have mechanisms in place to ensure good governance, an IRS official said April 21.

“The more we can use the Form 990 to figure out who needs our attention and who doesn’t, the less likely we are to show up on your doorstep when you are a compliant taxpayer,” said IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities Commissioner Sarah Hall Ingram.

Speaking at a nonprofit governance conference cosponsored by the Independent Sector and IRS, Ingram also said it is too early to discuss trends, but IRS is exploring why some organizations have failed to answer new questions or fill out new schedules on governance on the revised Form 990.

“We would like to look a little more closely at the patterns on blank spaces,” she said, “and we will be talking with some folks on some of those.” The IRS may address the lack of compliance by talking to stakeholders, sending letters to charities, or adding clarifications to the instructions for the Form 990 for the coming year, she said, in case there is any “ambiguity” on whether IRS wanted something filled out.

Information provided by BNA.com – posted April 21, 2010

Please contact Tom Denson or Ginny Gunther at 804-747-0000 if you would like to discuss your nonprofit’s Form 990.

Tags: irs form 990, revised 990

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