The IRS has stated informally that Form 5227 for the 2006 tax year will not be released until the first week of February at the earliest. Trustees may desire to notify trust income beneficiaries of the delay.  MORE »

As some of the popular news programs report, it's only 1,430 days until the next presidential election! With that in mind, in this special report from Tax Analysts, Alan L. Kennard of the St. Louis office of Husch & Eppenberger LLC reviews the rules in the tax code governing political activity by public charities.  MORE »

The American Competitiveness and Corporate Accountability Act of 2002, commonly known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, was signed into law in response to the corporate and accounting scandals of Enron, Arthur Andersen, and others. The law's purpose is to rebuild public trust in America's corporate sector by requiring publicly traded companies to adhere to significant new governance standards that increase board members' roles in overseeing financial transactions and auditing procedures. This article, by BoardSource and INDEPENDENT SECTOR, discusses the current and potential applications of Sarbanes-Oxley to nonprofit organizations.  MORE »

At an April 25 conference, former IRS Exempt Organizations Director Marcus Owens and the IRS's Lawrence Brauer discussed how the IRS is using intermediate sanctions under section 4958 to combat excess benefit transactions involving tax-exempt organizations. The discussion highlights TAM 200243057, in which a car donation organization was hit with multiple penalties for willful and flagrant actions.  MORE »

Do you have a gift acceptance policy? Most nonprofit organizations do not have such a policy adopted until after the fundraising program is in place. This article by Kathryn W. Miree, Esq. will give the reader a greater understanding of the purpose of, as well as how to draft and adopt, gift acceptance policies.

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The federal government and many states have rules regarding charitable solicitation, filings, registration and other things that charities and charitable gift planners must comply with to ensure lawful operation. Last week, we published Part I of this article, which addressed state law compliance issues. Part II of this article focuses on federal compliance issues affecting charities and charitable gift planners.  MORE »

The federal government and many states have rules regarding charitable solicitation, filings, registration and other things that charities and charitable gift planners must comply with to ensure lawful operation. Sorting these rules out can sometimes be difficult, particularly when a charity operates in more than one state. In Part I of a two part article, PGDC legal editors provide an overview of the state law compliance area. Part II will focus on federal compliance issues affecting charities and charitable gift planners.  MORE »

In this week's edition of Gift Planner's Digest, Denver attorney and CPA, Ken Ransford examines the effect that unrelated business income has on charitable organizations and split-interest gift planning vehicles. "When Paying Taxes Is Better Than The Alternative" also explores ways in which charities can operate in a for-profit world.  MORE »

Have you ever attended a charity auction only to have the well- meaning auctioneer rally the audience by saying, "Come on everybody, it's deductible!" According to Ronnie C. McClure, Ph.D., CPA, this week's contributing author to Gift Planner's Digest, donors, bidders, and charitable organizations may be in for a surprise. Although auctions probably fall more under the category of "spontaneous" than "planned" giving, there are several interesting tax facts you might want know before the next gavel falls.  MORE »

Choosing a trustee for a planned gift continues to be an increasingly complicated matter. In this edition of Gift Planner's Digest, Elizabeth L. Mathieu, Esq., President of Neuberger Berman Trust Company discusses six elements of selecting a trustee for planned gift instruments.  MORE »